


The Dotted Boy

by RoseThornFics



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Coming Out, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Sexual Content, Geek Stiles Stilinski, Graphic Violence, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Hale Family Feels, Jock Derek Hale, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Mutual Pining, No Underage Sex, Oracle Stiles Stilinski, Predator Kate Argent, Slow Burn, Top Derek Hale/Bottom Stiles Stilinski, time skip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2019-11-08 08:02:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 76,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17977475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseThornFics/pseuds/RoseThornFics
Summary: "Wait!” Derek called immediately, causing the boy to stop and turn halfway around to look at the wolf. “What’s… uh, what’s your name?”The dotted boy smiled a big toothy grin and responded, “You can call me Stiles. See ya later, Derek,” and walked into the sea of students.Derek stared after him, a dumbfounded expression on his face. He jumped when he felt Isaac’s hand clap on his shoulder.“Think I found the reason for you zoning out, dude,” Isaac smirked at him. Derek was still confused. Everything about this damn day was confusing.Derek's the star quarterback of the Beacon Hills High School's football team and Stiles is a geek who talks too much. So what happens when they're partners for a science project and Derek is maybe, sorta, totally into him despite Stiles's oblivious self?





	1. The Dotted Boy

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! My name is Rose. This is my first ever fic. Like. Ever. I've never written a novel-type work. I usually stick to poetry. However... I've loved sterek for years. I wanted to write a fic for a long time, but never had the confidence to. This idea however has been stuck in my head for days and days and I decided to just go for the damn thing! I'm probably not the best writer, so if you have any constructive criticism, please let me know in the comments. I promise, I want to grow as a writer to keep writing fiction and stories. Now... I'm also not the best fact checker so if anything in this fic feels off or wrong, it probably is. But since this is fiction I'm just gonna do whatever the hell I want and the universe shall bend to my will. HAH! ... Anyways, enjoy the start of my little story. I hope you enjoy. I have a lot more planned. (I'll add more tags as the story moves along. I don't want to add spoilers to them so I'm sorry if it seems bland for now!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Wait!” Derek called immediately, causing the boy to stop and turn halfway around to look at the wolf. “What’s… uh, what’s your name?”
> 
> The dotted boy smiled a big toothy grin and responded, “You can call me Stiles. See ya later, Derek.” and walked into the sea of students.
> 
> Derek stared after him, a dumbfounded expression on his face. He jumped when he felt Isaac’s hand clap on his shoulder.
> 
> “Think I found the reason for you zoning out, dude.” Isaac smirked at him. Derek was still confused. Everything about this damn day was confusing.
> 
>  
> 
> Derek's the star quarterback of the Beacon Hills High School's football team and Stiles is a geek who talks too much. So what happens when they're partners for a science project and Derek is maybe, sorta, totally into him despite Stiles's oblivious self?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! My name is Rose. This is my first ever fic. Like. Ever. I've never written a novel-type work. I usually stick to poetry. However... I've loved sterek for years. I wanted to write a fic for a long time, but never had the confidence to. This idea however has been stuck in my head for days and days and I decided to just go for the damn thing! I'm probably not the best writer, so if you have any constructive criticism, please let me know in the comments. I promise, I want to grow as a writer to keep writing fiction and stories. Now... I'm also not the best fact checker so if anything in this fic feels off or wrong, it probably is. But since this is fiction I'm just gonna do whatever the hell I want and the universe shall bend to my will. HAH! ... Anyways, enjoy the start of my little story. I hope you enjoy. I have a lot more planned. (I'll add more tags as the story moves along. I don't want to add spoilers to them so I'm sorry if it seems bland for now!)

“- Hale! Derek Hale!”

Derek snapped out of his thoughts with a start. Looking up towards the front of the classroom with wide eyes. He hadn’t realized he’d been so lost in thought until the teacher had called on him. What he even been thinking about in the first place?

“Uh… Yes, Mr. Vanguard?” Derek responded.

“Class is over, son. You’ve been sitting there staring at the wall for ten minutes. I thought maybe you were just memorizing something but you haven’t moved. Is everything okay?” Mr. Vanguard was his science teacher for his junior year of high school. He was a kind man but Derek’s never really talked to him one-on-one.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry, sir. I didn’t realize.” Derek dumbly responded, gathering his supplies off his desk to pack up.

“It’s fine. But, hey, you can talk to me if you need to alright? My door’s always open.”

Derek felt bad that Mr. Vanguard was trying to be so kind to him. Truly nothing was wrong. Maybe he’d just been ignoring the class and zoned out.

“Yeah, thanks sir.” He responded before making his way out of the room.

Derek sighed as he made his way towards his locker, allowing other students to move around him to get out of his way. He was a pretty big guy at his age of seventeen. Being the quarterback of the Beacon Hills High School, he was tall and muscular. Standing at six-feet-tall and one-hundred-and-seventy pounds, he was a force to be reckoned with.

When Derek closed his locker, he was met with the face of one of his best friends and pack mates, Isaac Lahey. The boy was taller than him, but leaner. He was on the football team with Derek as their star wide receiver.

“Derek! I’ve been waiting, you know. Was Vanguard giving you a lecture?” Isaac asked as Derek immediately began moving away from him, towards the lunch room.

“The opposite.” Derek briefly responded, before continued when he realized Isaac would just ask anyway. “I zoned out, so he told me to talk to him if I needed to.”

Isaac sped up so he could walk in front of him while looking back at him. “What were you thinkin’ ‘bout?” He asked curiously.

“I don’t know, really. I kinda just zoned out.”

“Mm… sounds supernatural to me! Let’s tell mom.” Isaac grinned.

Derek stopped and huffed. “Let’s not tell mom that I zoned out in class and get me lectured. It’s human to zone out, Isaac. It’s not that big of a deal, you just want excitement.”

“Hell yeah I want excitement! Do you know how long it’s been since an ‘animal attack’ has happened here?”

A new voice chimed in to the conversation, “Seven months.”

Derek looked to his left and then down a little to realize there was a boy standing in front of them. How much of that had he heard? Derek really had to be more careful in public places when he was talking about pack things.

“How did you know that?” Derek asked.

“Because my dad’s the sheriff and the first responder to all of them? Now can you get out of the way? You’re in front of my locker.” The boy responded with his arms crossed over his textbook. He was smaller than Derek and much leaner with moles dotted all around his face. For some reason, Derek couldn’t help but stare at them, almost like he was trying to connect them like a puzzle.

“Hellooooo? Earth to big man? I’m trying to go to lunch.” The boy waved one hand in front of his face with annoyance written on his face. Derek snapped out of his thoughts and stepped out of the way, red spreading on the tips of his ears as embarrassment ran through his stomach. He really had to stop doing that, getting lost in thoughts and all.

“Sorry.” Derek finally said.

“All good, big man.” The boy responded, stuffing his things in his locker. Derek was confused how he could just throw his book in there. He watched as the boy went to shut the locker and then realized it was stuck on something. He kicked at the material blocking the way and went to push again, but couldn’t get it all the way. Derek couldn’t help himself and helped push the locker shut with force, only using one arm. The boy’s big brown eyes sparkled, “Hey! Thanks! Maybe the football team isn’t all a bunch of Spartans ready to kick me through any open hole.”

“What?” Derek tilted his head in confusion.

“Anyway, thanks for the help big man! I’ll call you up if I have any more locker problems.” The boy went to walk away.

“Wait!” Derek called immediately, causing the boy to stop and turn halfway around to look at the wolf. “What’s… uh, what’s your name?”

The dotted boy smiled a big toothy grin and responded, “You can call me Stiles. See ya later, Derek.” and walked into the sea of students.

Derek stared after him, a dumbfounded expression on his face. He jumped when he felt Isaac’s hand clap on his shoulder.

“Think I found the reasoning for you zoning out, dude.” Isaac smirked at him. Derek was still confused. Everything about this damn day was confusing.

“I’ve never met that guy in my life. How is he the reason I zoned out in science?”

“Uh… dude? He’s in your class. He always walks out first.”

“What?” Derek started recounting the entire class. He swears he’s never seen that… “Stiles” before in his life. How the hell could he have missed him for half the school year?

“Yeah, Derek. I can’t believe you missed him. I mean, he is a little cutie.” Isaac laughed as he walked off towards the lunch room. Leaving Derek to be, his now accustomed state, dumbfounded.

* * *

The next day, Derek took it upon himself to look for the lean boy Stiles. Without stalking him at his locker that is. He realized he had no classes with him during the morning hours, and decided that science class was his one chance to find him without starting a search party.

Sure enough, Derek immediately noticed him when he walked into the Science classroom. Stiles sat all the way in the back, his head down as he read his science textbook. Derek was confused why he would be reading through it already. Did they have a test today? He hoped not.

Derek sat down in his usual seat as they waited for Vanguard to come into the room and start his class. The class seemed to be going as normal as always until near the end of the lecture, he heard Vanguard begin to go over the homework.

“Now then class, I’ve decided it’s time to start our first group project of the school year. I know it’s a little late but I wanted to let everyone settle before throwing you all into groups. For this assignment, we’re going to be reviewing the planets and their properties. Seeing as there are eighteen of you, we’ll be splitting the class into pairs of two. Once you have your partner, come see me and I will assign you a planet to research, analyze and write an essay on. You’ll prepare a presentation for the class as well as present it yourselves. You’ll be graded on both your essay and presentation, so please work well together. I don’t want to have to grade you individually due to one person not pulling their weight.” He looked pointedly at a few of the students before he moved to sit down in his seat, allowing the immediate chatter of students to start up.

Derek didn’t move. He didn’t have any of his regular friends in this class so he’d just wait for the final straggler to pair up with like usual. However, only a few minutes into the partnering process, he felt someone step up next to him. He slowly looked up to meet eyes with Stiles, the dotted boy he’d been looking for earlier.

“What do you say to being my partner, big man?” Stiles said with a small smile. He moved himself to sit at the chair of the desk in front of Derek so he could look at him at eye level.

“Me?” Derek asked… dumbfounded. Why would Stiles suddenly want to pair up with him? He wasn’t the smartest person in class and they weren’t friends.

“No I was talking to the poster behind you… Yes you! Why, is that surprising?”

“Well considering we just met yesterday, I’d say it’s a bit surprising for you to want to be my partner… you don’t have any other friends in this class?”

Stiles laughed a loud “Hah!” as he threw his head back. Derek noticed His long neck was dotted just the same as his face. He had to stop himself from staring. “I’m a sophomore dude, I don’t have any friends in this class.”

Derek was confused. As always. How was a sophomore in his class? “Wait-”

Stiles interrupts him with an eye roll. “Yes, this is a ‘junior level’ class but I already did last year’s science in freshman year. I’m trying to graduate early so I’m looking to skip junior year and head straight to senior next year. Once I finish this class and English lit I should have enough credits to skip straight through.”

“Oh.” Derek just stares at him. His mind blank. How was Stiles real? He was a sophomore that was skipping an entire grade and had just met Derek yesterday but was talking to him like they’d been friends for years. After a few second of silence, Stiles started up again.

“So… is that a yes to being my partner or was that a clear no? ‘Cause if you have a friend in here that’s waiting for me to move that’s totally cool. I just thought, since you were like, not moving or looking at anyone that you didn’t have a go-to partner either so I moved over here to ask. I can totally find someone else though like, don’t even worry. I’m a hit with the kids. So I’m just gonna go ahead and see myself outta he-” Stiles began to stand up, but Derek quickly put a hand on his wrist to stop him.

“Wait! I’ll be your partner. I didn’t have anyone else.” Derek looks up at him with nervous eyes. Why was he nervous? His heart was beating like crazy while he looked up at Stiles. Stiles’s wrist was cold for some reason. Was the room cold?

“Oh. Cool! That’s great. Um…” Stiles looked down at his wrist in Derek’s hand, causing Derek to realize he was still holding it and immediately let go. Stiles pulled his wrist up to his other hand and rubbed it a little with a small smile. “Well, I’ll get the paper from Mr. Vanguard and then we can figure out when we’ll link up to get some stuff done. Be right back.” He walked away towards the teacher’s desk as Derek watched. His hand still feeling the phantom outline of Stiles’s wrist.

Stiles came back with a small post it and held it up towards Derek with a big grin. “We got Saturn! Ah… that’s my favorite planet. This is gonna be so fun, Derek.”

Derek couldn’t help but give a small smile back at how happy Stiles seemed to be, which caused Stiles to gasp suddenly. “Was that a smile? From Derek Hale? You can _do_ that?!”

Derek immediately looked confused. “Why would I not be able to smile?”

“It’s like… legend that you never smile. Ever! Your eyebrows are stuck in a permanent angry pose bidding all who get in your way a quick and sudden death.

That’s how you led the football team to victory since you joined, the other team is too afraid to combat you!” Stiles pointed directly at Derek’s confused face.

“I can definitely smile.” Derek responded.

“I don’t believe it.”

“You just saw it.”

“Yeah, well it was fake.”

“Stiles.”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

Stiles gasped again, his hands going over his heart. “You wound me, Hale. Wound me!” But he still walked away towards his desk. Derek watched as he retrieved his supplies and wrote something down on the post-it with their planet on it. He came back and slipped the piece of paper onto Derek’s desk before making his way out of the room.

Derek watched something fall from Stiles’s textbook as he walked out, leading Derek to jump up and grab whatever it was. On the floor, he found a comic book detailing some gruesome image of a man dressed as a bat punching the blood out of a thug with “Batman” written in huge lettering at the top.

 _So this was what Stiles was truly reading when he had his head buried in that book…_ Derek thought, a small smile reaching his lips as he walked back to his desk and picked up the post-it note. On the back of it, a phone number was written with “Text me!” above it. Derek gently placed the paper in his pocket before leaving the room.

* * *

“Derek!” He heard the familiar voice of his best friend. Isaac whirled around to his front-side and places his hands on his shoulders with wide, excited eyes. “You talked to the Stiles boy!”

Derek tilted his head inquisitively, “How do you know that?”

Isaac had a smug grin on his face. “I took a ‘bathroom break’ so I could get out of class early before the bell rang. I heard the end of your conversation. Kinda weird that he knows your full name though.”

“Maybe he watches football games.” Derek moved past Isaac, towards his locker.

Isaac fell into step next to him. “I’ve never seen him at one.”

“Do you usually spend your time scanning and memorizing every audience member?”

“Touché.”

They spent the rest of their walk towards the lunchroom talking about mundane things instead of focusing on the dotted boy. Sitting at their usual table full of his teammates and other popular kids, he dug into his food.

Around him were his closest friends. To his right was his “right-hand-man”, Issac. To his left, Erica Reyes. A beautiful girl with curly blonde hair and another beta of his pack. She’s shorter than him but feisty and agile. She wasn’t a part of any sports teams, but by being part of Derek’s group she had a place at the table. High School hierarchy and all. Then in front of him, was his last packmate Boyd. He is a dark skinned man with a bald head. The biggest of them all, he was their star Linebacker. Being taller than them all and also the most built, he was the muscle of their group. He hulked over most of the student body, if not all of it. Derek wondered how Stiles could consider him the legend of intimidation when Boyd sat in front of him.

“So, what’s this about you having a crush on some sophomore?” Erica inquires. She never has had a filter. Derek threw a fiery glare at Isaac.

“I didn’t say anything!” Isaac threw his hands up, but Derek heard the lie in his heartbeat. He lifted an eyebrow at the boy. Isaac slowly lowered them and then dropped his head defeated. “Okay fine I totally said something but only because I’m excited for you!”

Derek sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I do not have a crush on Stiles.”

“Stiles?!” Erica lifted her body a little, getting closer to Derek. She looked incredibly shocked. “Stiles. As in the sheriff’s son? As in talks-too-much Stiles?”

Derek looked at her, confused as to why she was suddenly getting defensive. “I don’t know? Is there another Stiles in school?”

“Oh. Oh hell no. Derek you are not falling in love with the sheriff’s son! Have you forgotten what we _are?_ ” Erica began to whisper, low enough that only their enhanced hearing would pick it up.

Derek growled, annoyed. “I’m not falling in love with _anyone_. We’re just partners for a science project. That’s it.”

Isaac scoffed behind him. “Yeah? Your heart rate goes up, like, a million percent when you see him. You’re totally falling for him.”

Derek growled again, louder this time as he turned on Isaac. “I don’t even _know_ him. Why are you all being so fucking annoying about this? I met a kid that goes to our school and now we’re partners for a science project.”

“We just want you to be safe.” Boyd stoically chimed in to the conversation. “You never know what could happen if he finds ou-”

Derek slammed his hands on the table and stood up. “I’m done with this conversation.” He walked out of the cafeteria, throwing the rest of his food in the trash and carelessly tossing his tray down. He didn’t look back at the group of kids who stared at his back.

 _I don’t fucking like the sheriff’s son. Stiles is just nice. Is it not okay for me to want to be friends with a nice person? I haven’t met someone who’s been so forthright with wanting to talk to me in so fucking long. Fuck Isaac. Spreading my business like that. And fuck the rest of them! Everyone’s acting like I’m some child that can’t protect my own fucking secrets. This is MY family. I was BORN like this. Yet they think they can lecture me?_ Derek thought to himself. He didn’t realize he was growling the entire time he stomped through the hallways. It’s like his claws her begging to release. He wanted to tear the lockers up as he went. But he withheld. Because he’s _mature_ and knows how to conceal himself.

“Uh… dude?” He heard a voice say behind him.

He whirled around on the voice with ferocity. “ **What?!** ” He growled out, expecting one of his packmates to be behind him. Instead he was met with the infamous dotted boy that started all of this in the first place. Stiles jumped back in surprise.

“Jesus! Who pissed in your lunch?”

Derek visibly relaxed. His eyes wide with his own surprise and his hands unclenching. He could feel the indentations of his nails digging into his palm, but he was happy to realize he hadn’t drew blood. He bowed his head. “Sorry. Stiles. My friends were just being annoying I thought you were one of them.”

Stiles took a few seconds before responding. Derek could hear him breathing, probably to calm down. Derek was saddened that Stiles was truly scared of him. “It’s fine. I mean I’m fine that is. I totally did _not_ expect to get punched in the face right there. Anyway, I heard that whole… scene that happened. You know the big **SLAM** and then walking out. I was just coming to… check up on you.”

Derek’s heart fluttered. Shit. This dude was coming to make sure he was okay? Seriously? They’d just met and he comes to see if he’s okay just because he threw a fit of rage? Stiles was too fucking kind. Way too kind. Supernaturally kind.

“I- I’m ok. Yeah. Thanks for checking.” Was all Derek could muster. His ears felt hot.

“Oh. Good! I’m glad. Um. I also had another question.” Stiles’s face was red. He looked nervous and even… embarrassed?

“Uh… yeah?”

“Um… do you… did you possibly find a comic book after I left science class? Not that it’s mine! I did not bring a comic book with me to class, not at all. I mean not that there’s anything wrong with that. If you finish your work fast you might as well entertain yourself with some reading! But it was not me! I was just asking…”

“Stiles.”

Stiles didn’t look him in the eyes, and crossed his arms. “Yeah?”

“I found your Batman comic after you left. I was gonna text you about it but I didn’t want to interrupt your lunch. It’s in my locker. If you want it back.” Derek offered, holding his arm up towards the direction of his locker. Stiles hesitantly started moving in that direction.

“You… kept it in your locker?” Stiles asked.

“What else would I do with it?”

“I dunno… laugh at me for it?”

Derek scoffed. “It’s a comic. Why would I laugh about that? Plenty of kids read comics.”

Stiles sighed, crossing his arms as he kept walking. “And there it is. I’m not a child or a kid or whatever. Comics are just fun to read. That’s all.”

Derek was taken aback. Had he said something wrong? He didn’t think he did. “I never said anything bad about you liking comics.”

“You just said ‘plenty of kids read comics’.”

“That’s bad?”

“I’m not a kid!”

“So… plenty of… adults read comics.” Derek gently tried to fix his word usage.

“You learn quick. I like that in a guy, big man. They make great subordinates.”

“Thanks. I think. Wait.” Derek tried to wrap his head around the conversation, his eyebrows digging ever so into his forehead towards his nose. The sight of it made Stiles laugh that same loud laugh he had done in the science room.

“Sorry.” Stiles started, after his smile slowly waned. “I just assume jocks like you find shit like that boring or funny and stupid.”

“Jocks like me?”

“Yeah this big tough guys who play sports and are super popular and get all the girls. You guys hate geeks like me and my friends.”

“You have friends?”

“Wow.” Well. That was stupid to say. Definitely stupid.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“I have a lot of friends. I guess you just don’t notice us. With all that being surrounded by popularity and ego.” Stiles continued. He looked angry now. Smelt angry.

“Sorry.” Derek said again, stopping as they arrived in front of his locker. He opened it with haste, wanting this interaction to end at this point. “Here. Your comic. I laid it flat so it didn’t bend or anything.”

Stiles took it, a small smile spreading on his face again before he looked back up at Derek and let it fall. “Thanks. Appreciate it, big man. Good luck with the friend drama. I’ll let you know if I find some to have some with.” He nonchalantly clapped Derek on the back before walking off. Well. Derek had royally fucked up this whole thing already. That was quick.

Derek sighed, slowly closing the locker door and noticing his best friend right behind it. “What do you want, Isaac?”

Isaac lowered his head with sad, guilty eyes. “I’m sorry, Derek. I didn’t mean to make you mad. I didn’t know they would react that way.”

Derek regarded him with silence before he sighed and pulled him into a hug. “It’s alright. I fucked it up anyhow. Nothing to be worried about.”

Isaac dug his head in Derek’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around him. Derek assumed he heard the conversation. When Isaac’s hands found his back, Derek heard the crumpling of paper. He pulled away, confused, and noticed the same look on Isaac’s face as he pulled his hand back with a post-it note in his hand.

Derek pulled it from his hand, looking on both sides to find anything on it and seeing “Thanks, big man” with a smiley face on it. Derek’s heart races a little bit. Was Stiles not extremely angry with him? What did this mean? Should Derek text him?

Isaac laughed in front of him. “Oh dude. You are fucking _SMITTEN_ ”

Derek ignored him. There was still one question. How the fuck did Stiles write that without Derek seeing or even hearing him?!


	2. The Wolf's Den

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Isaac return home, giving us our first look into Derek's home life and his family members while we look back on Derek's life before he met Stiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm so happy and thankful for the positive reception the first chapter received. Honestly it was very nerve wracking releasing my first piece of work but I'm so excited to do more now. For this chapter, I brought on a beta reader/editor to help me bring my writing to a new level, so I hope it shows that we spent hours going back and editing. I know there's a lot of build right now in order to properly place all of the characters in their respective elements but I promise the outcome will be worth all the backbone building!
> 
> Also, I think I'm going to do my best to try and update this story weekly. Every Thursday if possible but always at least by Saturday!
> 
> WARNING: This chapter does contain minor details of abuse, scars/cuts inflicted by another person, and details of predatory behavior between an adult and a teenager. I've updated the tags accordingly to show this.

Derek and Isaac returned home after school together with their bags strapped over their backs. Isaac had moved in with the Hales last year after Derek had become friends with the lanky boy.

_One and a Half Years Ago_

* * *

 

Isaac was a shy kid. Usually keeping to himself in class and moving out of the way for other students to move past him, or even take his place. Derek had taken an interest in him when he smelt blood on him one morning during an accidental meeting. Derek had been running late for school for the first time in months (which he blames entirely on Laura not doing her big sister duties in waking him up when she left), and after rushing to school he decided to grab breakfast in the cafeteria while he still had some time before homeroom. Isaac had been in front of him in line that morning.

Isaac turned around and noticed the jock, grimacing when their eyes met. He went to move out of the way so that Derek could go in front of him, but Derek just shook his head and gestured for him to keep his place. Isaac hesitantly moved back to his original spot, wrapping his arms around himself in a clearly tense state.  Derek sniffed, trying to read how the boy felt. Was he truly afraid of him, or was he just uncomfortable now that they were face to face? Unexpectedly, he was met with the smell of blood; something utterly human and awfully hideous. The smell of blood was much more intense than simply a “good” smell or a “bad” smell; it smelt like desperation, fear, pain, anger. It smelt like fighting.

Derek examined the boy from behind, looking for signs of a cut or injury. With his skin shrouded by a sweater and jeans, Derek had no luck. He followed him through the line, subtly trying to move around him and sniff for the source. Sadly, he wasn’t subtle enough and Isaac quickly noticed him.

Isaac jumped away from him and turned towards him. “I-Is there a problem or something? You’re like, moving all around me.”

Derek stared at him for a second, analyzing him. It was obvious he was nervous… but what was he hiding? He turned around and noticed a few students in line glancing their way. However, when he made eye contact with them, they immediately looked away. Derek sighed and reached out towards Isaac’s arm, tugging him slightly. “Come with me,” he said. Isaac hesitantly followed him as the air became filled with the smell of fear. Derek could only assume Isaac thought he was about to give him a swirly or something.

Derek found a quiet place in the hallway to talk, listening for eavesdropping students but neither hearing nor smelling anyone in the radius. “Are you okay?”, he asked, letting go of Isaac’s arm.

“What?” Isaac was visibly shaken, rubbing his arm.

“Are you okay?” Derek pressed again.

“What are you talking about? Are your football buddies hanging around the corner waiting to beat me up or something?” Isaac’s eyes darted around them, searching their surroundings.

“No one else is here, but I saw it... the blood. Are you okay?” Derek lied, but telling Isaac he could smell the blood wasn’t exactly the best idea. At least this was somewhat realistic.

“What? How could you-” Isaac reached behind him towards his back.

 _So that’s where it is_  Derek thought. He grabbed Isaac, turning him around and lifting his shirt to reveal his back. Saying it was “cut” would’ve been an understatement. The boy’s back was covered in scars, some threading into others and a few overlapping. As his eyes scanned Isaac’s serrated back, Derek noticed a fresh wound at the middle of his spine.  

“Who did this to you?” Derek all but growled out, his beta eyes flashed but he immediately subdued them.

“I did it to myself.” Isaac lamely lied.

“You couldn’t even reach the freshest cut if you tried. Who the hell is hurting you?”

Isaac got angry then, his fists clenching as tears began to well up in his eyes. He pulled away from Derek as hard as he could to get his shirt out of his hand.

“What does it matter to you? You’re not my friend. You’re not even an acquaintance. You and I have no concern for each other, so stop trying to be some lame ass hero and leave me alone.”

Derek just stared at him as Isaac breathed heavily, his head staring at the floor rather than at Derek. He still smelled of fear. Isaac was still scared of him.

Derek just slowly moved forward and wrapped his arms around the cut boy, pulling him to his chest. He heard Isaac gasp as his tense body pressed against his chest. It took a moment before he slowly relaxed, quietly sobbing. He wrapped his arms around Derek.

They grew a brotherly relationship ever since, and once Talia had learned of Isaac’s existence and his abusive father, well… It didn’t take much for her to get custody of Isaac. His father hadn’t stood a chance in any form of law. Explaining werewolves and other supernatural forces, now that was the hard part.

_Current Day_

* * *

 

Once inside the Hale house, Isaac and Derek immediately made their way to the kitchen. They were met with an angry Cora Hale, eleven year old who apparently was not happy with their mother.

“But Mom-”

“No, Cora. Finish your homework before you can have a snack.” Talia forcefully said, putting away a clean spatula in one of their many drawers.

“But by the time I’m finished my homework dinner will be done!” Cora growled.

“Well then you’ll have dinner and you can have a snack _later._ ”

“Dad would have let me have one!”

“Well your father isn’t here anymore. Now go do your homework.” Talia flashed her red, alpha eyes to Cora, warning her not to press any further.

“UGH!” Cora threw her hands in the air and stormed past her brother and Isaac, stomping her way up the stairs.

Talia sighed, putting away the last dish and wiping her hands with a dry rag. She looked sad as she rested her hands on the counter, looking down into the empty sink. She must be frustrated.

Derek slowly walked up to his mother, putting his hand on her shoulder. She leaned into it and gave his fingers a kiss. “I’m fine,” she said “she’s still coping.”

Derek nodded silently, but still squeezed her shoulder in support. Together, him and Isaac got a few small snacks and then made their way to their separate rooms.

* * *

 

Derek’s dad has been dead for two years as of last month. It was that day that Derek had made the fatal mistake of falling in love with an older woman, Kate Argent. Unknowingly to him, she was a hunter who’d known of his supernatural descent well before she set out to bewitch him.  He was fifteen compared to her more mature age of nineteen. The thought of dating an older woman excited him; he felt like he was more mature than he really was. It didn’t take much for her to seduce him.

He told his family he scored his first girlfriend in a sense of triumph, making sure not to bring up Kate’s age as she had told him “not to mention it”. Some of his family, like his Uncle Peter, had been congratulatory of his achievement.

“A young boy deserves a little sweetheart!” He’d exclaimed, “Let him have his fun.”

Talia wasn’t exactly happy about it, but she’d allowed Derek the freedom to do what he wanted... within her boundaries. This basically meant no sex and that she wasn’t allowed in their home. She was acting in a sense of caution, concerned that Kate could possibly pick up on what they were if she spent an ample time around the family.

When his father warned him about the dangers of dating anyone as a werewolf, Derek was angry. Derek swore he knew what he was doing, and he just wanted his father to trust him. However, while he was out with his “girlfriend” one day, he caught a glimpse of her ID after she was pulled over for speeding. He felt like he’d heard her last name somewhere before. Curiosity got the best of him, and he wound up searching the Argent name on his laptop.

At first, there wasn’t much but the typical search results; social media pages, random people he’d never met, and ads to find his ancestors with some DNA test that he totally didn’t trust. But there was one thing that caught Derek’s attention: A crest. It was some sort of design that seemed particular to the Argent name and contained the image of a wolf. He decided he would ask his father about it the next day and get some more information, if there was any. He’d hoped there wasn’t.

Derek wasn’t happy to hear that the Argents were a well renowned family of werewolf hunters. His father gave a small warning and explained that he knew the Argents followed a code, stating that they wouldn’t hurt any wolves that didn’t hurt innocent people. This gave Derek a sense of comfort, but he still didn’t feel entirely safe dating a hunter. He broke it off with Kate the next time he saw her for the sake of his family... not to mention the whole age thing.

That same night, The Argents took a sudden turn on their tactics and shot Derek’s father dead with wolfsbane-covered arrows. He hadn’t stood a chance in the middle of their surprise attack.

The roar that Talia Hale emitted was heard around the world. The ferocious alpha stopped at nothing to tear apart the Argent family, leaving their only survivors to run for their lives.

His family couldn’t even look at him for weeks.

It was Laura who was the first to finally come to him, tears streaming down her face as she apologized for not being a better big sister. She felt like she should have known better and that it was obvious Derek could’ve been in harm’s way. He realized then that his family couldn’t look at him because **they**  felt at fault for it. **They**  felt like they should have prevented Derek’s choices. His family felt like they hadn’t protected him enough.

Derek and Laura sobbed in each other’s arms as they fell asleep that night.

More and more his family apologized to him, but the more it happened the less worthy of it he felt. Derek made those choices, and he had willingly brought an Argent close. Because of him, his father was dead. His mother’s love was gone. His sisters’ father. It was all because he had felt “cool”. He’d let a woman slither her way into his heart and take everything he had to offer.

Derek still has nightmares of his father hugging him for the last time, and how he hadn’t told his father “I love you” when he left for his final run.

* * *

 

Once Derek got to his room, he fell into his computer chair and pulled out his phone. He decided to text Stiles immediately. There was bubbling anxiety in his gut at the idea of it but he decided to take his chances in making this work. This friendship that is. Of course.

He started it off by sending a picture of the post-it that Stiles had secretly placed on his back.

_D: How’d you write this without me noticing?_

What could he say? He was a curious boy. There was no way it was possible that Stiles had written that down in front of him without him at least hearing the pencil scratch on paper and Derek just had to know how he did it. After a few minutes of staring at the screen, Derek decided to not just sit and wait for Stiles to respond. He sat his phone down on his desk, face up, and opened his laptop. Just as he pressed the power button, both his monitor and his phone screen lit up. He bit his lip a bit as another surge of anxiety flew through him before he picked up his phone and unlocked it with his thumb.

_S: well hello to u too jockey boy_

Derek huffed a laugh of confusion at the term “jockey boy”. He didn’t even ride horses. He went to type a response, but saw the thought bubble pop up to indicate that Stiles wasn’t finished.

_S: a magician never spills there secrets. ull never get it out of me._

_D: Your grammar is terrible. You’re trying to skip a grade?_

_S: Oh ok the brute can speak proper English, excuse me for assuming all those protein shakes ruined the brain._

_D: This is a lot of hostility._

_S: You asked for proper Stiles and look where it’s gotten you. Have you learned your lesson?_

_D: Was there a lesson to learn?_

_S: Detention._

Derek laughed at his phone at that message. Stiles was funny. He sighed as he leaned back in his computer chair, thinking of what to say next. He didn’t want the conversation to end.

_D: So when do you want to get together?_

_D: For the project_

_D: in science_

_S: Ok calm down buddy I found the context clues_

_S: I’m free usually all the time, no friends and all you know :P_

_D: I’m sorry I said that._

_S: Oh I’m not mad._

_S: anymore_

_S: But I will be using it against you for the rest of your life. You’ll never escape my prison of shame._  

Derek almost typed ‘I’m okay with that.’ but stopped himself before he made a fool of himself. He was so engrossed in his phone and thinking of another message to send that he didn’t even realize his big sister standing in his door frame watching him.

“It smells like pure, gross happiness in here. What’s got you all geeked out, little brother?” Laura asked, her hands crossed over her chest.

Derek gasped and almost dropped his phone at how hard he jumped. He flashed his golden beta eyes at his sister in anger. “Don’t _do_  that, Laura!” He sighed, laying his phone down on his desk, face down this time. “Nothing, just a funny video.” He lied, knowing his sister would hear it.

Laura was beautiful. She had long black hair down past her shoulders and sparkling green eyes. She was tall, almost as tall as Derek, and she loved it. If she wasn’t a werewolf, Derek knew she would be amazing as a model.

“Awww come on, Derek. Don’t hide things from your big sister!” She walked towards him, reaching for his phone when she heard it vibrate to signify a new text. He growled at her and swiped it up in his own hands. She lifted her hands in surrender with a small grin on her face. “Mm… a girlfriend, huh? I won’t tell mom, don’t worry.”

“I do not have a girlfriend.” He gave a curt response.

“So a crush?”

“No.” His heartbeat ticked.

“A lie!” Laura pointed her finger at him with a celebratory grin.

“Stop, Laura… I don’t want to talk about it.” He sighed, finally resolving to log in to his laptop and go under the guise of doing homework to get her to leave his room.

“Aw, Derek… Don’t tell me it’s unrequited... Any girl would be lucky to have you.” She came back towards him to give him a little pat on his head. “And… you deserve to be happy.” She smiled at him with a genuine smile.

“I’m fine, Laura.” He said, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

“I know, I know. Just being a big sister.” She winked before she turned around and went to walk out of the room. She popped her head back in at the last second with a teasing remark, “Oh, and try not to smell so giddy and happy all the time. Mom’s gonna catch on in no time if you walk around like that every day.” before she closed the door.

Derek groaned and let his head fall to his desk, slamming into it. He heard his sister laugh behind the wall.

Derek decided to pick up his phone again, feeling bad the he hadn’t answered Stiles in a bit. He realized he had six missed messages waiting for him.

_S: Ok no prison I didn’t mean to scare you away_

_S: Hello big man we were in the middle of planning don’t tell me you died_

_S: I have no friends to text you’re the only one keeping me from doing my homework you have to come back before I get stuck in hell again :(_

_S: Okay… going back to my work I guess… I’ll just be… over here… working…_

_S: Hah! Gotcha I’m not working you can come back now_

_S: Deeeeeeeereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek don’t ruuuuuuuunnnn from meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee i typed all those letters out individually to give you more time to respond and yet you still failed. This is a very disappointing start to our texting relationship, Hale._

_D: I’m sorry my sister came to annoy me about something._

_S: You have a sister? I expected someone so stoic and angry to be a lonely, only child_

_D: I am not stoic and angry all the time._

_S: Ah, the lies you tell. But forget those, tell me about your family I’m very curious what the Hale family is like._

_S: Do you communicate with your eyebrows? Like “Oh mum pass the salt” but it’s just your eyebrows going up and down a bunch_

_D: I’m not british, why would I say mum?_

_S: But no denial of the eyebrow musicals! I knew it._

_D: Do your homework, Stiles. We’ll plan a date another time._

_D: A study date._

_D: A project day._

_S: Ok but you’re paying for me_

Derek laughed again, his face heating up with a blush as he laid his phone down. He rested his head in his hands as he laughed and smiled brightly before his smile steadily fell and he groaned loudly.

“What the fuck am I doing…?”


	3. Watch Your Claws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott's finally introduced to the pack while Stiles realizes how he can benefit from being Derek's friend. Scott asks for football training from Derek, who agrees to bring both of the humans to his home for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here's another chapter. With this one, I almost doubled the word-count that the previous TWO chapters accumulated which is pretty cool!
> 
> Also, I'd appreciate it if you let me know if you'd rather chapters be posted on Fridays or Saturdays instead of Thursdays! I kinda chose a day on a whim, but I don't know what's best <3

Stiles definitely saw him and Derek as much better friends than Derek realized. Well, Derek didn’t have _many_ friends outside of pack, so he didn’t truly know what a friendship entailed. The morning after Derek had assured Stiles they would figure out a time to get together, Stiles wasted no time in making sure he found out exactly when that would be.

Derek went to his locker to take out his science textbook, making sure he had a sharp pencil with him before closing it. As soon as he closed the door, he found himself almost walking directly into the dotted boy.

“Stiles!” Derek jumped back, surprised. Stiles had a huge grin on his face, obviously pleased that he’d managed to take the wolf off-guard.

“Surprised to see me?” Stiles asked in a low, playful voice.

Derek huffed, moving to walk around him despite a small smile forming on his face. Stiles always managed to surprise him; it was practically a talent. The smaller boy followed after him.

“So I was thinking,” Stiles started, looking up towards Derek as if he were waiting for a reaction.

Derek took a second before finally giving in. “I’m listening,” he said.

“Well, I like to get my work done fast so that I have more time to relax, ya know? So I was thinking, right, maybe if you have time, we could get started like today after school and then like finish it any time whenever but like, I like-”

“Stiles. Breathe.”

Derek and Stiles walked into their classroom as Stiles took an exaggerated breath of air before continuing as Derek sat in his seat.

“...If that’s okay with you?”

Derek smiled at how much work it took Stiles just to get to that final question, but he was sad to give him his response.

“Sorry, Stiles. Finstock has us practicing today.”

Stiles stared at him incredulously, “Practice? It’s not football season anymore though…”

“It never ends with Finstock. He’d dig up our caskets just to make us practice if that’s what it took.” Derek laughed, “If you’re okay with waiting just a bit of time, I’ll be free to work on it on Saturday. We can even do a little extra and finish it all in one night if you want? Then we can prepare for the presentation a few days before the due date.” He offered.

Stiles took a minute to ponder it before he finally nodded with a smile on his face. “Be prepared for lots of work big man, I’m pretty intense.”

“Don’t you have any other names to call me? Your creativity is lacking, Stiles.”

Stiles gasped. “My _creativity?!_ I’ll have you know, eyebrow menace, I have a lot of other names brewed up in this noggin of mine! I haven’t called you, protein shake playboy, any other names in fear that you’ll take one to your tiny, ice cold heart! But now that I have my freedom from your wrath, Ares duplicate, I will use all my arsenal has to offer against you!”

Derek stared at Stiles, stunned. His head was reeling at the new names Stiles seemingly had off-hand. Had he seriously been thinking of names to call him this entire time?! Before he could reply, Mr. Vanguard walked in and took his seat at his desk, indicating that class was ready to begin. Stiles grinned triumphantly as he walked past Derek to his own seat. Every now and then, Derek snuck glances at Stiles out of the corner of his eyes only to see him with his head buried in his textbook. _So he just reads comic books the entire class, huh…_

* * *

When class was over, Stiles walked out of the room first as usual. Derek took his time to pack up his things and leave, turning to the left to see Isaac waiting for him as usual.

“I have an idea.” Isaac began with a small grin on his face.

Derek rolled his eyes and immediately moved to walk past him. Any idea from Isaac was _never_ a good idea. Isaac relentlessly ran to get in front of Derek and cut him off.

“No, no, listen!” He put his hands up to Derek’s chest to stop him from walking, “So Stiles and his friends are like… under the radar, right? They’re not very popular.”

Derek slowly nodded his head, one eyebrow raising in question.

“So… what if we invite him and his friends to sit with us? You get to sit with your heart’s desire and he gets a little popularity boost!”

Derek scoffed, pushing Isaac’s hands away from his chest. “Stiles does not care about popularity. And don’t call him my ‘heart’s desire.’”

“ _Everyone_ cares about popularity, Derek. It’s high school! We invite him to our group, he makes more friends, he becomes friends with _us_ , and then you have more excuses to invite him to join us on things… you get closer, he gets closer, you kiss, you get married, I become an uncle…” Isaac rambles as Derek walks right past him again.

Derek liked Stiles, but he didn’t know if he really wanted to invite him to their table. They shared it with some pretty big assholes and, even though they probably wouldn’t do anything obviously insulting in front of Derek, he didn’t want Stiles and his friends to feel like outcasts.

“Come on, Derek! I thought up this great idea and you’re not even going to give it a _chance?!_ At least ask him!” Isaac whined from behind him.

Derek sighed, finally opening his locker and placing his supplies inside. When he closed his eyes, he looked back at Isaac who was staring at him with sad, puppy eyes and pouty lips.

“Fine.” He surrendered.

Isaac triumphantly grinned as he gleefully skipped away to his own locker, leaving Derek to go find Stiles by himself.

* * *

Derek found Stiles at his locker, as per usual. He wondered why he got there so late despite leaving class first, but that wasn’t his business. When Derek approached Stiles’s locker, Stiles gave him a small smile. Derek’s heart fluttered.

“What’s up, dude?” Stiles asked as he slammed his locker shut with force, probably because it was filled to the brim again.

“I have a question for you.” Derek stated, his eyes catching Stiles’s but then quickly looking away. Something about looking into Stiles’s eyes was just too intense.

“Shoot.”

“Well, I was wondering if you… and your friends would want to sit with me… and mine? At lunch? The table’s not full so… there’s room.” Derek awkwardly asked, his hand coming up to scratch the back of his neck.

Stiles was quiet for a minute before Derek looked at him again. He surprisingly looked  pensive about the question.

“Your table… is full of all the popular kids… and you’re asking some geeks to show up and crash the party?” Stiles asked with untrusting eyes. Derek hated that there was this stupid high school stereotype of popular kids vs unpopular kids. He never even paid attention to it before meeting his pack and Stiles. There was such a divide between them that didn’t make any sense.

“You’re not crashing any party. Everyone’s pretty lame other than me and my friends, honestly.” Derek shrugged.

Stiles laughed, “Dude, you sit next to _Lydia Martin_ , though! I mean, just her being there elevates it.”

“Lydia? I don’t really talk to her. She’s Jackson’s girlfriend.”

“Yeah, I know. He doesn’t deserve her. At all. I hate his ass. Don’t tell him I said that. Lydia is a _goddess_ and he’s just a huge asshole. I mean, have you even seen her?” Stiles had this big smile on his face while he talked about Lydia, and his heartbeat quickened the entire time he did. Derek never knew he had a crush on the queen bee.

“I have.”

“Well then you should realize her impact! She’s like a meteor that crashes into your world every time she speaks… I try to talk to her when she passes by but she’s way out of my league. You know what? Maybe if I’m at the table she won’t be able to ignore me… then she’ll realize how much better of a guy I am than he-who-shall-not-be-named!” Stiles slammed his fist into his hand like he just had the best idea he’d ever thought of. “I’ll tell Scott right away! I’ll meet you at the table!”

Yeah. Isaac’s ideas were always fucking terrible.

* * *

Derek was already annoyed when he sat at his lunch table. Erica and Boyd were both sitting across from him this time, leaving a space beside him where Erica had sat before, and Isaac had yet to arrive. Derek looked over, seeing Lydia Martin in the corner of the table sitting next to Jackson Whittemore as usual, and couldn’t help but seethe at her before looking away. Lydia Martin was beautiful, Derek couldn’t deny that. She was easily one of the prettiest women he’d ever seen. Her fiery red hair fit her personality perfectly and her sense of style only elevated her presence. She was a force to be reckoned with, and her appearance was surely meant to be seen. Her nails were always manicured perfectly and her makeup was completely seamless at all times. Lydia Martin was the perfect girl, and she flaunted it. They weren’t friends, not in the slightest. Jackson hated Derek’s guts since he could never beat him for the quarterback position. Derek gave their team a huge undefeated streak last season and Jackson had never been able to reach the level Derek was on. Jackson was shorter than Derek and not nearly as strong. He was a pretty boy, and Derek would even consider him attractive if he wasn’t such a dick all the time. Derek had his advantages but he didn’t really feel bad about using them; it’s just high school, after all.

Stiles showed up before Isaac with only one person in tow. There was a tall boy with a crooked jaw and goofy smile behind him. He seemed shy, probably because he’d never met Derek or any of his friends while Stiles had at least met him and Isaac.

“Hey, Derek! This is Scott. Scott, this is Derek.” Stiles introduced them immediately like it was some formal meeting. Derek almost wanted to shake Scott’s hand but he just nodded in his direction instead. Scott returned the favor.

“Hey… dudes,” Scott offered as Stiles sat next to Derek and Scott sat next to him. Derek decided he should introduce his friends as well.

“This is Boyd and this is Erica,” he started, pointing to each respectively. Boyd didn’t say anything but nodded towards them while Erica gave them both a big, intimidating smile. “And Isaac-”

“-Is right here!”, Isaac interrupted, nearly slamming his tray down on the other side of Derek. Isaac gave a big smile to both Scott and Stiles and moved over to give them both squeezes on their shoulders. “Glad to have you guys at the table.”

Stiles smiled back at him while Scott looked taken aback by the over-welcoming boy.

There was a moment of awkward silence that fell over them before Erica opened her mouth,

“What took you so long to get here, Isaac? You’re always first.”

That question began an entire conversation between packmates that flowed as easily as usual while Scott and Stiles watched. Derek was glad there was some conversation going on at all as it allowed the boys to get to know the pack without being forced to get into conversations with them as well.

“And!” Isaac held up his finger, “When I got there they said that they’d already run out of chicken sandwiches which I don’t understand! I haven’t been late to get one _once!_ ”

“You’re a football player but you can’t outrun the regular kids to get to lunch?”, Stiles chimed in. His little dig caused a small moment of silence. Scott almost inaudibly gasped while Erica let out a loud, booming laugh.

“Oh, I like this one.”, she said, pointing to Stiles, causing a big grin to appear on his face. Isaac, however, crossed his arms with a pout.

“I had other priorities… it’s not fair.”

Now, thanks to Stiles’s interruption, the conversation between all parties flowed easily. Stiles and Scott both chimed in when they had something to say without fear of interrupting while Erica and Isaac specifically looked to them for responses when they said things occasionally.

After a bit of time passed, Derek looked over and caught Stiles staring at Lydia who was fixing her makeup in her compact mirror. He hated that Stiles liked such a stuck up woman like Lydia. She looked down on everyone including her own boyfriend. Stiles deserved so much better.

Derek leaned over to whisper in Stiles’s ear. “Did your other friends not want to come to sit here?” In truth, he just wanted Stiles to stop paying attention to the red head.

Stiles shook himself out of the haze he was in, turning to look at Derek. “Huh?” He asked.

“I said… did your other friends not want to sit with us? It’s fine if they didn’t, I was just wondering…”

Stiles stared at Derek for a few seconds, obviously confused, before his eyes went wide and he started quietly laughing. Derek tilted his head in his own confusion before Stiles explained,

“Dude, I was totally lying back then. Scott’s my only friend. I was just mad you pointed out that I had none.”

Derek stared at Stiles for a beat before he turned back to his remaining food,silently continuing to eat. This caused Stiles to laugh harder and lightly punch Derek’s arm. “Don’t make fun of me, dude! I had to talk a big game so you couldn’t make fun of me further!”

Derek glared at Stiles out of the corner of his eye. “I wasn’t making fun of you.”, he said after he swallowed.

“Then what were you doing?” Stiles asked a small grin on his face.

Derek was silent for a short moment before he sighed, defeatedly. “Saying something stupid…”

“There it is. Good boy.” Stiles pet Derek’s head before he let his hand drop, looking towards Lydia again. She was now standing up as Jackson gathered her trash for her to combine with his. As she began walking past them, Stiles spoke up.

“Hey Lydia.”

Lydia took a glance at Stiles, grimaced, and walked away. Derek wanted to growl at her, but Stiles looked in bliss.

“Did you see that? She _looked_ at me!” He poked Derek on his arm multiple times in excitement. Derek met eyes with Isaac, who looked surprised, then suddenly looked guilty.

“Yeah. I did.” Derek curtly responded.

* * *

When they were all finished with lunch, they stood up to throw away their trash. Scott sidled up to Derek’s side, causing Derek to look over at him inquisitively.

“Hey dude- I mean Derek, I mean-”

“You can call me dude, Scott.”

“Ok. Dude. Cool. Anyway, I always wanted to ask you something.” Scott said, laying his now empty tray down as he followed Derek out of the lunch room.

“Go for it.” Derek curtly responded, still annoyed with his new discovery of Stiles’s infatuation with Lydia Martin.

“So, well, I’ve been kinda following the football team since I was a freshman, right? Cause, like, I love football. Anyway, you’re like a really great quarterback and all but Isaac and Boyd weren’t on the team before they became your friends, right? And they’re like star players! I was wondering… did you, like, train them?”

Derek could hear Isaac having a conversation with Stiles behind them. Stiles seemed to be very passionately explaining that Batman was a lot more than just a human with no powers and Isaac, who was not a comic book nerd, was playing devil’s advocate.

“I did. They always had potential, I just brought it out of them.” Derek opted for the best answer he could. There’d been rumors about him and his friends for awhile seeing as their suddenly amazing game performance took everyone by surprise. He never paid attention to them, but they circulated regularly. In his own team, and enemies.

“Oh! Cool! Well, I was kinda wondering, do you like, think you could help me out sometime?” Scott shyly asked.

Derek looked over at him with curious eyes. “I didn’t know you wanted to be on the football team, have you ever tried out?”

Scott sadly laughed, “I did. But I failed. Pretty bad. I wasn’t able to get past the first drill because my asthma started acted up... But it’s been getting a bit better now, and I think I could handle it! With some training that is.”

Derek stopped walking, inciting Scott to do the same. He looked down over him, analyzing his body to see his potential. He glanced to his right to see Stiles and his packmates had also stopped and were staring at them confused. Derek finally nodded his head after a sufficient analysis and looked back to Scott’s face.

“I have a big clearing near my house that I use to train on my off-days. Come to our football practice today to get a glimpse to what it’s like and then tomorrow we’ll see what you’re capable of there. Sound good?”

Scott seemed over the moon. He must have assumed Derek wouldn’t even give him the time of day, but Derek didn’t mind helping him at all. He was Stiles’s friend after all and he seemed like a good kid.

“Okay! That sounds good! Cool! Super cool.” Scott was beaming as he walked off his own way, presumably to his locker. Stiles watched him go before coming up to Derek with his own smile.

“Thanks for giving him a chance.” He said, “His asthma’s pretty bad so don’t go too hard on him, alright? He pushes himself too much.”

“Why don’t you come too and make sure he’s okay?” Derek instinctually asked. He really just wanted Stiles there, but this was a good excuse.

Stiles looked surprised before he laughed and nodded his head. “Alright, but I will _not_ be playing that game. I bruise easy.”

Derek bit his lip at that fact, but suppressed his rising heat and turned towards his locker. “See you tomorrow then.” He gave a wave behind him as he walked off towards his locker. Stiles seemed to walk off to his own while his packmates followed close behind Derek.

“Are you crazy? You’re taking them both to your house? You _know_ how Talia feels about people in the house.” Erica growled at him.

“I’m not taking them _inside_. I’m taking them to the forest clearing.”

“That isn’t much better to Talia! She hates anyone that isn’t pack being near the house.” Erica continued to argue.

“Eventually we all have to move on. Mom included. I can’t just… _turn_ everyone who I’m friends with in order to make it acceptable to hang out with them. Everyone was there for me for _my_ mistake, but when I try to move on from it everyone just reminds me of the same shit.” Derek pulled his locker open, gathering his math supplies.

“I think so too.” Isaac agreed, looking at his other packmates. “This could be good for the pa- the house! Maybe having people that aren’t… one of us around will help everyone move on.”

Erica looked torn, sighing in frustration as she tossed her hair behind her shoulder. “I just hate when Talia’s mad at us… you remember how much shit I got in when she first turned me…”

“You mean when she told you that you needed more control but you still got too risqué and bit that one guy? Then you came crying to Talia about how you thought you turned someone by mistake?” Isaac grinned.

“She looked like she was going to rip my throat out for not listening to her… ‘What if he were secretly a hunter’ and all that. It was hard to listen to her so upset.”

Boyd, who was silent for most of the day, finally spoke up. “I know we weren’t born this way, but…” he looked at Derek, “I think it would be good for everyone if it wasn’t so strict. If we could have other friends around.”

Derek nodded. He’d started this paranoia in his family. He needed to be the one to change it.

* * *

The next day school proceeded as usual, other than the fact that Stiles and Scott had sat at Derek’s lunch table again. Scott was practically vibrating with how excited he was to practice football with Derek. He seemed to have an idea that he was going to become some big-shot football player after Derek transformed him. Derek didn’t want to promise him anything, but he was willing to at least try to teach him a few things to get him started. The only way to truly get Scott ahead was to give him the bite, but with Stiles and Scott being best friends that made things much more complicated than they already would be.

After school finished, Derek and Isaac met up with Scott and Stiles at Stiles’s locker.

“Are you guys ready?” Derek asked, his hand clamped around one backpack strap.

Scott looked at him excitedly and nodded his head while Stiles laughed at his friend’s overwhelming emotion. Derek led the way out of the school with Isaac to his side, they stopped near his car. His pitch black Camaro. Stiles and Scott both gasped as they realized Derek was unlocking the car.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait. This is _your_ car?!” Stiles exclaimed.

Derek smirked. “Yes. Why?”

Stiles glared at him in jealousy as Scott moved his hand along the hood, checking his hand for anything that could come off of the car.

Isaac opened the passenger seat with his own grin, “Just follow behind us, we’ll lead you back to Derek’s place.” he sat inside the car and closed the door.

Derek shot a wink to Stiles as he got in his car himself, and slowly backed out of his parking space. They waited for Stiles and Scott to get into some beat up jeep that Stiles seemed to drive, and then they lead them down the road towards Derek’s house.

Derek loved driving through the forest to get to their house. It was the most relaxing part of the drive and made him feel so private. Like he’d transported to a new world now that he was moving away from the street. Stiles was going slower now that they’d arrived on a dirt road, probably taking in the scenery. Derek’s living situation was pretty hidden from most of the school. While his mother was secretive over their home, he also didn’t have many people to talk about it with or show off to, so it all worked out.

When they finally arrived at Derek’s home, Derek parked in front of the house while Stiles parked a bit behind him to give him space. All four boys got out of their cars, meeting at Derek’s.

“Dude your house is… huge.” Scott said while he stared at Derek’s home in amazement.

Stiles’s mouth gaped at the sight of the house, “When were you gonna tell me you had _money_ , Derek!?”

Derek just scoffed and waved at them to follow him towards the clearing. When neither boy moved, Isaac clapped them on their backs and pushed them towards the field.

“Come on boys, it’s not nice to stare.” He said.

Scott and Stiles just nodded as they stared at the house until their heads couldn’t turn any further.

* * *

“We’re gonna be playing in our casual clothes?” Scott asked, looking down at his jeans.

“We won’t tackle you, so as long as you don’t trip you won’t get dirty.” Derek assured him, but it made Stiles laugh.

“Have fun with that, dude. I doubt you’ll be able to stay on your feet against _the_ Derek Hale.”

Derek rolled his eyes and walked into the middle of the clearing. The clearing itself was a large area ranging of about 200 feet of space. It’s original purpose was for the children to run and exercise in an easy-to-see area when it was close to a full moon, but now the pack uses it for games and practice. In the middle of the field was a lone football that Derek had left there this morning before going to school. He didn’t want to go into the house at any point while Stiles and Scott were near.

He picked up the football with one hand and glanced back at Scott before immediately throwing it in his direction. Scott, taken off-guard, jumped and tried to block his face from the ball. Isaac snickered next to him and picked up the ball, throwing it back to Derek who caught it with one hand.

“Don’t be scared of the ball, Scott! It won’t hurt you unless you don’t catch it!” Derek yelled as he brought his arm back for another throw, allowing Scott to get ready.

Scott huffed and ran to another area in the field, spreading his legs further than he needed to and putting his hands in a triangle-like shape in front of him as if the ball would magically drive itself right into that spacel. Derek laughed to himself a little before throwing the ball at him again.

Scott actually made an effort to catch it this time, but it had gone a bit to his right (as Derek had wanted it to) and he, despite diving for it, wasn’t able to catch it. He pushed himself off the ground with his hands and walked over to grab the ball with another huff of frustration. Scott threw it towards Derek but the spiral was completely off. The ball wobbled in the air a few times before falling short of Derek. Derek ran to pick it up and shook his head before motioning for Scott to come near him, whom did as he was asked.

“Get into the same position you were in when you were trying to catch the ball.” Derek told him.

Scott got into the same position as before, nervously, knowing he was doing something wrong.

“See here,” he pointed to one of Scott’s legs, “you’re spreading them way too far. This fucks up your center of gravity. So, when you go to catch a ball that isn’t coming at you perfectly, you end up falling and missing the ball. Or, at best, you catch it and give your team a few feet.” He moved behind Scott and grabbed his hips, pushing them in towards the center of his body a bit. “You want your feet to only go past your hips by a little bit. This gives you the best control over your balance while giving you the freedom to run if you need to.”

Despite his lectures, he still wasn’t getting it. Scott felt comfortable with his legs spread so wide so it was hard for him to really get what Derek was saying, much to Derek’s frustration.

Stiles, who must have noticed Derek’s frustration with his best friend, had made his way over behind the two and sighed loudly. “Scotty, my boy, it’s not that damn hard! What aren’t you getting?” He scolded him, moving to stand in front of them. He got into the same position as Scott and then slowly moved his feet in to match his shoulders. Despite the visual, Scott just groaned in frustration.

Derek sighed, moving over to Stiles and behind him. He grabbed Stiles’s thighs and pushed his legs back out to the position Scott was holding.  He heard Stiles gasp at the sudden movement, but made no note of it as he looked up at Scott from a crouched position.

“Here, you can see Stiles’s feet are pushed far out past his hips. Because of this, if he lifts either of his legs, his body weight will fall entirely on the other like a Jenga tower. To keep your balance this way is almost impossible to do. So,” he grabbed Stiles’s leg and began moving it towards his other leg while Stiles automatically moved the other to match it. “You bring them in… here. This gives you the best balance you can achieve, allowing your body to flow to either direction **and** it plants you in place. Then,” he stood up to full length, grabbing Stiles’s sides which caused him to giggle before he began holding his breath to counter it. Derek slowly pushed Stiles forward so he was a hunched over a bit. He tried to pay no mind to how Stiles pushed his hips backwards towards his own. “You stay hunched over a bit. Again, this is another balance trick. You’re planting yourself in place while allowing yourself to get to where you need to go without issue. Are you understanding?”

He looked up at Scott, who was staring at Stiles before looking back at Derek and shaking his head as if he were knocking himself out of a daze. “Yeah, yeah. The visual definitely helps.” Scott slowly copied Stiles’s positioning.

“Good, that’s great!” Derek grinned as he stepped back, smacking Stiles on the ass instinctively before freezing. It was common in sports to give each other a smack on the behind as a “good job” gesture but he hadn’t really thought about it when he was handling Stiles. Stiles jumped and looked back at Derek with a scarlet red blush and a look of surprise on his face. Derek gave him an apologetic smile before Stiles scampered off back to his place next to Isaac, who was laughing hysterically with a hand over his mouth.

Derek ran back to his place in the field with the football in hand. He turned towards Scott, who looked like he was grinning but still in the correct position. Derek threw the ball again and watched as it arced obviously over Scott’s head. The boy looked up to see it before reacting immediately and running backwards to catch it. At first, Derek thought he wouldn’t make it, but he sprinted at the last second and managed to catch the ball in his arms. Stiles and Isaac both erupted in applause and cheers as Scott jogged back with the ball held up in victory. Derek could hear that he was already breathing hard, but didn’t comment on it yet. He’d stop when he knew he had to.

They went back and forth a few times, then decided to practice throwing while running. All in all, Scott was starting to get the hang of it slowly.

That was, until a voice rang out over the field.

“Why do the boys always get to have all the fun? I want to play too.”

Derek looked over and saw his sister, Cora standing at the edge of the clearing with his big sister Laura standing beside her. Laura had her arms crossed and a big grin on her face as she nodded to Cora. “You know what, Cora? I do too.”

* * *

Both of the girls made their way towards the middle of the clearing as Derek ran towards them. At this point he was breaking a small sweat, while Scott was drenched.

“What are you two doing out here?” He asked his sisters, who looked up at him with grins on their faces.

“Oh, we just heard laughter all the way from home and we felt a little left out. You’ll let us play, won’t you?” Laura asked innocently, looking over Derek’s shoulder at a heavily breathing Scott. Scott was taking a puff of his inhaler but he still gave her a quick thumbs up. Derek sighed.

“You know it’s not fair, he’s human.” Derek growled quietly.

“Yeah? I couldn’t tell with the asthma and all. Listen, you’ve brought new friends to our house. We just want to meet them.” Laura insisted, looking down at Cora. Cora was glaring daggers into the human boys.

“Just… watch your claws.” Derek said sternly, crouching down to be at Cora’s level and forcing her to look at him. “ **_Watch your claws.”_ ** He ordered her. She sucked her teeth and huffed at him.

“I’m not stupid. I won’t beat them up.” She promised.

Derek nodded seriously and stood up before walking them back towards Scott and Stiles. Scott seemed to have gotten his breathing back together now that they’d taken a break.

“Scott, Stiles,” he gestured to the both of them respectively, “These are my sisters. Laura, my big sister, and Cora, my little sister.”

Laura gave them both a big smile as she reached out to shake their hands.

“Derek hasn’t brought home friends since Erica! It’s good to see his cold glares haven’t pushed even more people away.”

Derek rolled his eyes at her as Stiles let out an amazed laugh, looking between all three Hale siblings. He pointed at Derek, “I was wrong! Your family is nothing like you!”

Derek scowled at him.

Laura looked between everyone and smiled brightly, “Derek and I can be team captains. So who’s on which team?”

Isaac raised his hand, “I’ll be on Laura’s!”

Cora grabbed Derek’s arm, “I want to be on Derek’s.” She stated.

“Uh… I guess I’ll be on Derek’s too!” Scott chimed in.

After a beat of silence, they all looked at Stiles who slowly looked between all of them.

“Oh. Oh hell no. I said I wasn’t playing this game.” Stiles shook his head making Scott groan.

“Come on, Stiles! The teams are uneven!”

“I’m basically a non-player anyway, Scotty! It’d be better to not have me on the field at all!” he exclaimed but Scott still went to grab his hands and pull him up.

“We have an eleven year old on our team.” Derek stated.

Cora glared at him but didn’t say anything. Stiles looked at her for a second before finally resigning. “Fine, fine… but don’t get mad at me for just standing there.”

“Yes!” Laura raised her arm in the air and grinned widely before grabbing the ball from Derek and running out into the field.

“Rules are simple! No tackling! Touch takedowns, _Cora_.” She looked pointedly at Cora who rolled her eyes but nodded anyway. “Ball switches on takedowns, get to the other side for a touchdown.” Laura looked at everyone to make sure they understood and everyone nodded, except Stiles who looked completely out of his element.

Once they all got into position, Laura nodded before yelling “HUT!” and throwing the ball to Isaac. He caught it perfectly with both hands, tucking it under her arm before sprinting at full speed to the other side of the field. Scott had tried to keep up but failed completely. Isaac never held back.

When Derek got the ball, he passed it to Cora. She caught it, despite fumbling a bit with her hands before sprinting at full speed to the other side of the field. She didn’t tuck it under her arm like Isaac, but she still held it protectively to her chest. Laura managed to catch up with her and reached for her with her hand, but Cora made a sudden stop and ran around Laura to cross to the other side of the field. Laura laughed loudly after Cora tricked her clapped for her when she managed to achieve a touchdown.

The game went pretty smoothly throughout a few runs. Derek had passed the ball to Scott a few times, and Laura let him get past her once to get a touchdown. He was breathing heavily, but based on the look on his face, he was clearly having fun. There was one last play, with Derek’s team winning, and Laura’s team had the ball to tie up the score.

Laura signaled the start of play with another “HUT!” before looking around the field for someone to toss it to. Derek saw her grin mischievously before she looked directly at Stiles. Stiles’s eyes went wide with surprise as the ball was tossed to him and stood still, miraculously catching it. Derek snickered a little, crouching low before bursting into a run directed right at Stiles. He saw Stiles look at him like a deer in headlights before he heard Scott and Laura both yell “ **RUN, STILES!”** causing him to shake himself out of his shock and start sprinting to run around Derek. Derek’s heart started hammering in his chest as he gave chase. His pupils dilated in lust as his eyes fixated on Stiles’s back. He would do anything to catch him.

Derek ran as fast as he could, gaining on Stiles before he completely lost sight of him. It was like Stiles had disappeared, causing Derek to skid on mud as he looked around the field for him. Somehow, Stiles had outsmarted Derek and crossed over out of his field of vision, somewhat similar to what Cora had done to Laura earlier. But, he wasn’t as fast as Cora. Derek immediately started his sprint again and came at Stiles from the side. He heard Stiles’s sharp intake of air before Derek crossed in front of him. He grabbed Stiles’s thighs and pushed into his stomach with shoulder, tackling him to the ground with Derek on top. Stiles coughed at the force of the tackle, dropping the ball at his side to cover his mouth with his hand. He looked up at Derek with wide eyes, meeting Derek’s own. They were both breathing heavily and Derek just wanted to kiss him in this moment. It wouldn’t be hard; all he had to do was lean down. Just when his resolve was about to break, he heard Cora groan from close by.

“Derek! You broke the rules! Laura said there was _no tackling!_ ” She exclaimed, frustrated.

Derek shook himself out of his trance, looking up to see everyone jogging towards them. He immediately stood up and reached his hand down to help Stiles up himself.

“Sorry. Football instincts.” He lied, trying to create an excuse for himself. Stiles nodded, letting out a breath.

“All good, Bane, I’ll survive.”

“Bane?”

Stiles looked at him incredulously, “Dude. Batman.”

“Never read it.”

Stiles shook his head, resting his hand on Derek’s shoulder. “You are missing out on an entirely new world.”

When the others finally caught up, Laura looked between the two boys suspiciously before turning her eyes on Derek. “Well, since Derek broke the rules… I think that makes team Laura the winners by default!”

Cora groaned and punched Derek in the arm. He rubbed his arm and sucked in a breath to exaggerate how much it hurt.

“It was fun while it lasted. Nice job getting us the win, Stiles.” She winked at him before clapping Cora on the back gently to usher her back towards their house. “We’ll have to play again some time! I always love a revenge match.” She yelled back at them.

Isaac clapped Stiles on the back as he made his way towards the house as well. “Good job, dude! See you guys at school!” As he reached the edge of the clearing, he turned back around and cupped his hands over his mouth to yell, “And good job, Scott! You’ve got potential!”

Beside Derek, Scott beamed widely before waving back at Isaac excitedly. Together with both of the lankier boys, Derek made his way back to their cars. Scott gave his thanks to Derek for helping him with training and told him he hoped he’d have a chance to do it again sometime. Derek assured him they would. Scott reached into Stiles’s car to grab his phone as Stiles and Derek awkwardly stood there.

“So…” Stiles started, “You totally gave me a football tackle.”

“Sorry.” Derek offered, sheepishly.

“All good, all good, but it hurt like hell.”

“I owe you.” Derek promised.

Stiles smiled at him a little, “You sure d-”

“FUCK!” Scott exclaimed, moving to get out of Stiles’s car. “OW!” He hit his head on the top of the car as he was getting out.

Stiles looked at him in confusion, “What, Scott?”

“I’m gonna be late to work! Dude, **_please_ ** can I take your jeep? I can’t be late again or my boss is totally gonna kill me!” Scott pleaded to Stiles who glared at him.

“I can just drive you dude, it’s no big deal.”

Scott shook his head vehemently. “No way dude, you drive that thing like it’s gonna break if you pass fifty miles-per-hour on the highway! I’ve gotta take it.”

“Because it probably _will_ , Scott.”

“Please, please, please, please, please, please-”

“ **Okay!** Okay! Fine! Take it.” He got into his jeep and grabbed his backpack before tossing Scott the keys. “If you break her you’re paying for her.”

Scott nodded as he quickly climbed into the jeep’s driver’s seat and sighed in relief. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I owe you!” He said as he turned the jeep towards the dirt road they’d arrived on and sped out of the forest. Stiles scowled at the jeep as it drove away and sighed.

“He’s totally gonna crash my baby…”

Derek squeezed his shoulder in support, “Need a ride home?”

Stiles looked up at him and grinned a little, “Can I drive your Camaro?”

Derek laughed, pushing Stiles around his car. “Hell no.”

Stiles groaned but still got into the passenger’s seat without any complaints, his eyes going wide as he felt around the car’s interior. “You are so loaded, dude.” he said in amazement.

Derek didn’t comment as he started his car and turned into the dirt road, driving much slower than Scott did out of the forest.

“I know of a diner near here. If you’re hungry.” Derek offered, looking over at Stiles who groaned in pleasure at the statement.

“ _Please._ I’m starving.”

 

Derek smirked, making a right turn. “I’ll pay.”


	4. We Need To Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Stiles learn more about each other, Derek and Laura have a much-needed talk, and the boys finally start their project.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay on posting this chapter! I was traveling and then thrown right back into my day job immediately after I got home. Despite my lack of sleep and rushing to get this chapter done in three days, my editor says it's my best so... enjoy!

“I’ll have the classic Riley burger and on the side could I have curly fries instead of the regular ones?” Stiles was giving his order to the older, grey haired waitress. He was looking up with her puppy eyes as if she would, for whatever reason, say no to his request.

She just laughed as she nodded her head to him, “Sure, hun.” before she looked to Derek for his order.

“The usual, Cynthia, if that’s okay.” He handed her his menu.

“Of course,” She smiled sweetly to him as she took the menu from his hands and took off.

Derek and Stiles sat opposite each other in a booth inside _Riley’s Diner_. Stiles was currently fiddling with the paper from his straw sleeve and ripping the edges off to put in a small pile. Derek watched him with both confusion and fascination, causing the dotted boy to look up and meet eyes with him. He looked surprised that Derek had been watching him, but smiled anyway.

“Sorry. ADHD.” Stiles admitted sheepishly, putting down the paper, but Derek noticed that his leg started bouncing under the table to compensate.

“It’s not a big deal. I was wondering where you were going with it.”

“I didn’t really have an idea… it’d probably go under my plate, honestly.” Stiles joked with a small smile on his face. He leaned down to take a sip of his Sprite. Derek tried not to pay attention to the fact that he grabbed the straw with his tongue well before his lips were enveloping it.

There was a pause of silence as Derek thought of something to say, but Stiles’s phone vibrated on the table to interrupt his thoughts.

“Sorry,” Stiles said as he picked up his phone to check whatever the notification was. Derek nodded his head silently as he watched him unlock his phone with his index finger.

“You use your index finger to unlock your phone?” Derek asked incredulously.

“Uh, yeah, dude. If someone tries to get into my phone they’re gonna go for the thumb first! With enough tries they’ll just lock themselves out and I win.”

“Won’t they just try another finger after it doesn’t work?”

Stiles ignored him as he smiled at his phone. Derek couldn’t help but feel a bit of jealousy at the sight, wondering if he got a text from someone that made him smile like that. He wondered if Stiles smiled like that when they texted.

Stiles turned his phone around to show Derek a picture. It was a picture of his jeep, completely in tact, with presumably Scott’s thumb up in front of the camera. “He’s lucky he saved my jeep or else I would have had his ass.” Stiles said as he pulled his phone back, giving the picture one more look over before he locked his phone and placed it face down on the table.

“If your jeep is so unsafe, why do you drive it?” Derek asked curiously as he looked Stiles in the eyes. He noticed they suddenly became guarded, then sad. Derek immediately retracted his question. “Sorry, it’s not my business.”

“No, no. It’s fine.” Stiles said, covering his sadness with a smile that was big enough that he had to close his eyes. It was probably a tactic to hide the sadness in them.

“Um, well,” Stiles started, his eyes downcast. He stared at the table as his hands found the straw’s paper sleeve again and began tearing it into small pieces again.

“It was my mom’s. She drove it for as long as I can remember. And… when she… uh,” he coughed to clear his throat, “when she died, it was the last thing I had left of hers to call my own. So I’ve been using it ever since. It’s kinda messy sometimes, but I make it work. My dad and I have probably spent enough for another car just keeping her jeep alive.” Stiles laughed sadly. Derek could smell his overwhelming sense of depression. Stiles missed his mom so much. Derek felt like he’d been hit in the face with the emotion.

Stiles looked up to see Derek’s crestfallen face and laughed again. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to throw the whole ‘I have a dead parent’ story at you.”

Derek shook his head, “No, it’s okay. I…” he looked away, biting his lip. It’d been awhile since he’d told anyone about his dad. Since he said the words _My dad is dead_. Laura had been the one to tell his friends when they became pack. “I lost my dad, a few years ago. So, I can relate. Somewhat.” Derek nodded, fighting back his wolf’s urge to howl to the sky.

“Oh, shit. I’m… sorry. I know it’s really hard, but I’ve had a long time to cope with it. Are you… okay?” Stiles sounded so genuinely concerned about Derek that it hurt the wolf to hear. Would he feel the same if he knew that Derek had been the cause of his death? That Derek killed his own dad?

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. It was… the two-year anniversary of his passing a few months ago.” Derek looked back at Stiles, witnessing his own crestfallen face now. Stiles gave him a small reassuring smile when they met eyes.

“Well, you’re pretty strong. Being able to get through that is really tough for anyone. I’m proud of you.” Stiles said. Derek fought back tears. There was something about that last sentence that tore apart his chest. _I’m proud of you_. Had he been told that since his father died?

“Thank you.” Derek said as his eyes fell and he stared down at the table. His throat felt too choked up to speak now. How could Stiles even show him such genuine care when he was just talking about his mother’s death? Stiles should feel worse about his own grief, but instead he gave encouraging words to Derek for his. He hadn’t even brought up his mother’s death since Derek brought up his father’s.

Thankfully, their waitress came back at that moment to break up the sad moment. She handed them both their meals and quickly walked away, noticing the heavy silence between them.

Derek stared down at his meal with a sudden uneasiness. How could he eat when he felt so much guilt in his stomach?

“Dude… how do you eat all of that?” Stiles’s voice broke Derek’s thoughts.

Derek looked up and tilted his head, confused.

“Two bacon hamburgers, fries **and** a side of fried chicken?!” Stiles asked incredulously.

Derek shrugged, looking back down at his meal. “Being an athlete works up an appetite.”

“But- That’s not fair at all! If I ate all of that, I’d have the _opposite_ of a six pack and raging pecs!”

“Because you don’t work out.”

“That’s not a fair explanation.”

“It’s the right explanation.”

“In what court of law?”

“Stiles.”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up and eat your food.”

Stiles scoffed and picked up a curly fry, throwing it into his mouth and biting into it with a groan of satisfaction.

Derek gently smiled as he picked up a fry of his own. The guilt in his stomach settling, he feasted.

* * *

Derek had to drive Stiles home after they left the diner. Once they’d finally gotten to eat, the heavy silence had immediately been lifted. Stiles seemed to have a talent for taking a bad situation and turning it on its head. They talked about many things while they ate. Derek told Stiles about the football team and how most of his teammates were dickheads or just complete bores, while Stiles attempted to inform Derek of the entire history of Batman. Overall, it had been a success and Derek felt like he knew Stiles a lot better than he did before.

On the way back to Stiles’s house, Stiles fidgeted the entire time in his seat. Derek had never seen him this way, even in school. He wondered if Stiles takes medication to calm down his ADHD, but decided not to ask in case it was too personal. When they finally arrived, Stiles gave Derek a big smile before getting out of his car.

“Thanks so much for everything today, Derek. The diner, the ride home, even the football practice. It was all pretty great.”

Derek smiled himself, nodding to Stiles. “Anytime, Stiles.”

Stiles smiled even bigger at that, and closed Derek’s car door. He took two steps towards his front door before he turned around and opened Derek’s door again,

“Text me when you get home! Gotta make sure you got there safe.” He said firmly.

“You don’t need to worry about me, Stiles.” Derek assured him.

“Your eyebrows may ward off potential attackers but it can’t ward off other cars! Text me when you get there, okay?”

Derek smiled again, big enough to show his teeth and nodded. “Okay, Stiles.”

Stiles, content with Derek’s reponse, closed the door again and walked to his front door. Derek waited for him to get completely inside before he drove off.

For some reason, it kind of felt like he’d just been on a date.

* * *

When Derek arrived home and made his way up to his room, he found Laura waiting for him on his bed. She had a serious face as she looked up at him.

“We need to talk.” She said, motioning for him to sit in his computer chair. He did as he was asked, confused.

“So… this ‘Stiles’ boy.” Laura started, “That’s the… ‘crush’ you have?”

Derek looked away and didn’t answer her. If he lied, she would call him out on it and he wasn’t ready to admit it yet.

“I didn’t know that you…” she hesitated, “I mean, I didn’t know he would be your type.”

Derek stayed silent. He didn’t want to have this talk. He knew his family thought he was straight. _Everyone_ thought he was straight. He didn’t really have an answer for them. Derek hadn’t done any soul searching or self-identifying since Kate. He didn’t have a place in his heart for relationships or crushes. He couldn’t help that Stiles, a boy, was what he found himself opening up to again for the first time. Why did he have to explain that to anyone? Why did it matter?

Laura sighed, fidgeting with her fingers. “I don’t know how to do this, alright? I want to tell you that it’s okay and that I love you and that _we_ love you but I don’t want to make it a big deal either. I don’t want to just… _ignore_ it because it’s important too. It’s who you are, Der. There’s a whole… history in that community that I should know if you’re part of it.” She looked away, “I realized that… when I realized you liked him. The thought of you liking guys never occured to me, or Cora liking girls or anyone in between any of the spectrum. It shouldn’t have taken _that_ for me to realize that I should be more involved in how people of other communities are treated but… it did. I just want to be there for you, alright? If that means beating up a dude for calling you something or beating up a dude for breaking your heart. I want to be your big sister through all of that.”

Derek finally looked at her, tears forming in his eyes. He sniffled as he stood up. She followed him and they met in a tight embrace. Derek held Laura tightly to his chest as he buried his head in her hair.

“I don’t know anything either. I didn’t even know I liked guys until him. I don’t get him, Laura.” Derek said shakily.

Laura pulled away just enough to look up at her brother, tears streaking her cheeks as she rubbed away his. “It’s okay. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

Derek nodded as he pulled Laura in again for another tight hug.

They stayed like that for a few moments before Derek heard a soft knock at the door. He looked over to see Cora, beta eyes glowing and claws extended, sniffling and ripping the bottom of her shirt.

“W-Why are you guys crying?” She asked shakily. She must have heard them or smelt their emotions from another room and came looking for them.

Laura smiled at her gently, motioning for her to come closer. Cora didn’t hesitate to follow and bury herself between her brother and sister.

“Don’t worry. We’re okay.” Laura assured her.

“But why are you crying?” Cora asked again.

Laura looked at Derek with question in her eyes. Derek bit his lip, but nodded and took a shaky breath.

“I figured out that I like boys, Cora.”

Cora growled, “Does the boy you like not like you back? Is it Stiles? I’ll punch him.”

Derek laughed. Of course Cora wouldn’t care. Of course his family wouldn’t care. He just didn’t know how to admit it to _himself_ that this is what he felt. That Stiles made him feel this way.

“Stiles hasn’t done anything wrong. He just likes a girl.” Derek said gently.

Cora shook her head. “But he should like _you_ if you like _him_!”

“That’s not always how it works, Cora.” Laura stated.

“Boys are stupid.” Cora declared, pulling away from their hug. Derek noticed that her eyes had stopped glowing and her claws had retracted. She gave her siblings a final glance before she left the room again as if she hadn’t been in there in the first place.

Laura smiled to herself. “At least we know she won’t be accepting any confessions anytime soon.”

Derek just nodded in agreement.

* * *

It was late that night that Derek got a text from Stiles.

_S: Hello??? Are you dead? I told you to text me when you got home and I never got a text so I can only assume you are dead. If you aren’t, tell Laura to start writing your obituary because I’M gonna kill you for not telling me you got there safe_

_D: Sorry, I forgot. Serious family meeting as soon as I walked in_

_S: Oh the old “family meeting” trick… I’m on to you, Hale._

_D: Are you?_

_S: More than you knoe!_

_S: Know!_

_D: Sure, Stiles. I’ll let you believe that_

_S: You underestimate me, but I’ve got tricks up my sleeve like you wouldn’t imagine_

_D: Isn’t it past your bedtime?_

_S: I worried myself to death wondering if you crashed on the way home and this is how you treat me?!_

_D: Did Scott ever bring back your jeep?_

_S: Did you really just deflect my feelings?!?_

_S: but yes he did and she’s doing beautifully._

_S: now back to me_

_D: go to bed, Stiles_

_S: Wow… I see how it is._

_D: Do you?_

_S: You think that if I sleep I’ll just forget everything and forgive you, that’s it isn’t it_

_D: Not really I just think you should sleep_

_S: Well you’d be correct! I’m going to bed_

_D: Goodnight, Stiles._

_S: Night night :D_

Derek put his phone under his pillow as he said his final goodbyes to Stiles. Even with a smile on his face, he groaned in misery.

* * *

Once Saturday had finally arrived, Stiles wasted no time in trying to get Derek’s attention. It was eight in the morning when Derek was awakened by his phone ringing. He groaned as he picked up.

**“What.”**

“Woah there, Sourpuss. I thought someone like you would be a morning person.” Stiles’s light voice passed through the phone, making Derek groan again.

“I thought someone like _you_ would be anything but one.”

“I wake up to make sure my dad doesn’t sneak himself some bacon on the way to work.” Stiles laughed quietly, “You don’t have to come now. I just thought you’d already be up so we could get this project started.”

Derek groaned again, quieter this time. “I didn’t think you were this serious about it…”

“I told you I was intense. Now get your ass up, run a lap or whatever athletes do, and drive your stupidly nice Camaro over here.” With that, Stiles hung up.

Derek sighed as he dropped his phone beside his head on his pillow. Despite everything in his body telling him to go back to sleep, he still got himself out of bed and made his way to his bathroom for a shower.

He didn’t even take the time to eat breakfast before he threw himself in his car and left the preserve. He hoped his family didn’t wonder where he was going too much.

The drive to Stiles’s house wasn’t too far from Derek’s. If Derek took his time, he’d get there in about twenty minutes. Today, though, he made it in ten. He could blame it on the fact that there was no traffic, or that he made every green light. But, there was a part of him that wanted to admit that he wanted to see Stiles and was going a little bit over the speed limit.

Derek parked his car in front of Stiles’s place and took a deep breath. He found himself gripping his steering wheel a little tighter as he gathered himself, but he resolutely let go and got out of his car.

* * *

When Stiles answered the door, he still had a mess of bed head and a stained white t-shirt on. He was wearing red, plaid pyjama pants and no socks. Compared to Derek’s put together ensemble of black jeans, a black v-neck and his favorite leather jacket, no one would be able to tell that Stiles had been the one to wake **Derek** up.

Stiles squinted in the sunlight up at Derek and his jaw fell. “Dude, what the fuck? How are you _already_ here?!”

Derek tilted his head at him in confusion. “It’s been thirty minutes. I thought you were already up and ready?”

Stiles flailed his hands wildly in front of himself towards Derek. “You did all of _this_ in thirty minutes?! I thought you’d be like an hour or more!”

“I thought I took a pretty long shower.” Derek shrugged.

“Even if you did, it takes like twenty minutes to get here from your place! Did you go like fifty miles over the speed limit?”

“There wasn’t any traffic.”

Stiles looked at him skeptically before he sighed and motioned for Derek to come into his home. Stiles had a decently sized home in Derek’s standards. It wasn’t small by any means, but nothing extremely lavish. Stiles walked in front of him, every now and then bringing his hand up to brush his hair down with no success. Once he reached his stairs, he turned back to Derek.

“Well _I_ have to shower still. Would you rather wait down here in the living room or in my bedroom?” He asked, a bit of red coloring his cheeks.

“Honestly, I don’t feel entirely comfortable sitting down here by myself in your home since it’s my first time. Do you care if I’m in your room?” Derek asked, trying not to pressure Stiles into allowing Derek into his privacy.

Stiles snorted nonchalantly before he turned around and started heading up the stairs. “I don’t care dude, just don’t steal my stuff.” He joked. Derek gave a small huff of laughter in response as he followed him.

When they arrived in Stiles’s room, Derek was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a small yet comfortable space. There seemed to be space for everything and breathing room for people to move around, but it wasn’t so much that it wasn’t comfortable. Stiles moved towards his dresser where opened the top one and grabbed a pair of underwear, then he moved to a few other drawers and picked himself out an outfit. He gave a small smile to Derek before he moved to leave the room.

“Be back in a jiffy, try not to get yourself in trouble.” He winked.

Derek waved at him to leave before he slowly began moving around the room. He didn’t mean to snoop, but he wanted to see what Stiles had on display. The first thing he noticed was the massive comic book collection that sat neatly organized on a bookshelf in corner of his room. There was room for more in it, but from what Derek could gather from the spines it was organized by volume and issue as well as alphabetically. He knew Stiles enjoyed comics, but not to this extent. It was cute.

He also noticed on Stiles’s computer desk, there was a framed picture beside his monitor of a younger Stiles and a woman Derek had never seen before. She was in a hospital bed, holding her Stiles’s hand with a smile on her face. He presumed it was Stiles’s mother.

The next thing that Derek noticed though, was the smell. Stiles and him had been close enough to touch many times, but to actually smell Stiles was a process he hadn’t undertaken. There were many overwhelming smells that a person exuded on their overall person, but they were usually hidden behind deodorant or the scents of others when they’re in a group. In Stiles’s room, it was just Stiles’s scent and his alone. Everywhere.

Derek couldn’t truly help himself when he heard the shower begin running in the bathroom, he moved towards Stiles’s bed and lowered his head into the pillow before he took a deep breath.

Stiles’s scent was like Derek had never smelt before. It was like the forest, mixed with oranges and the air after it’s just rained. He smelt like nature in its entirety. But there was more to him than that. Derek could smell the soap he was probably using to was himself now, and prescription medicine that he assumed Stiles must take for his ADHD. But underneath it all, there was something else. The smell of freshly dried semen, right in the middle of Stiles’s sheets. Had he masturbated right before Derek showed up? That must be why he took so long to get ready. Derek groaned into the pillow as he felt himself growing hard on top of the bed. He took off his shoes and laid on his stomach as he took another deep breath. Unable to stop himself, he found himself grinding into the bed. Stiles just smelt so fucking _good._ The only thing that stopped him from getting himself off on Stiles’s bed was the fact that he heard the sound of the shower stop running. Derek groaned, in frustration this time before he sat up on the bed and fixed his shirt. _What the hell am I thinking?_

* * *

Stiles came into the room in grey sweatpants and a fresh t-shirt that had the batman logo proudly presented on the front. Derek couldn’t help but smile a little at the nerdy attire. Stiles looked at him in confusion and motioned to him with his hand.

“Dude do you want to take that jacket off? You don’t have to wear it all day.”

Derek looked down at his sleeves, not really realizing he was still wearing his jacket before he nodded and pulled his jacket off. He handed it to Stiles who took it and hung it over one of his bedposts.

“I hate that you’re so jacked. It’s so unfair.” Stiles said with a pout as he moved over to his computer seat and sat down.

“It’s not unfair if you work out.” Derek stated matter-of-factly.

“It’s unfair that I _have_ to work out to be jacked like that!” Stiles complained, his fingers flying across his keyboard as he signed into his computer.

“What do you call it when I have to work out for it then?”

“Natural selection.”

Derek wanted to throw something at him, but the little smirk Stiles gave him just made him smile. Stiles opened up a blank document and cracked his fingers, looking back at Derek.

“So, football star, do you have a secret to share with the class? Such as… ‘I’m the biggest Saturn nerd in the world and can tell you everything about it without you having to google it, Mr. Stillinski!’”

Derek snorted, laying on his back on top of Stiles’s bed. “No way. I never cared about the planets.”

“Never cared about the _planets_?! I’ll have you know we might have to move to them one day when humans destroy the Earth.” Stiles pointed at Derek with a judgemental finger. Derek shrugged.

“You think they’d be any better on another planet?”

Stiles raised his hands in surrender and turned back to his computer. “Maybe you’re right. Well, if you find anything interesting out, I’m all ears.” He said as he began typing on his keyboard again. When Derek looked at his screen, he noticed he was writing an introductory paragraph to their project.

Derek sighed as he pulled out his phone and started googling “Random Saturn Facts”.

* * *

Derek didn’t know when, or how, it happened. But he found himself opening his eyes to a crouched down Stiles in front of his face. He sat up immediately and rubbed his hands over his eyes. Stiles laughed, standing up to full length as he patted Derek’s back.

“Good morning to you too, buddy.” Stiles teased.

Derek looked up at him and then around the room as if he’d transported somewhere. “What happened?”

“You fell asleep on fact number four, dude. I looked back and you were passed out.”

Derek sighed, rubbing his eyes again and looking at Stiles’s computer again. “What fact are we on now?” He asked.

“I finished it dude, don’t worry about it. I couldn’t bring myself to wake you up, you looked so peaceful.” Stiles giggled to himself as he sat down in his computer chair again. “It’s so weird seeing you when your eyebrows are actually _relaxed_ and not in death stare mode.”

Derek glared at him. “I’ve smiled to your face, Stiles.”

Stiles shrugged. “There’s something about your innocent sleeping face that reminds me you’re human just like the rest of us.” He teased. Derek wished he could point out the irony in that statement.

Derek’s stomach growled before he could respond, causing him to put his hand over it and attempt to silence it. He forgot that he hadn’t eaten breakfast in the morning.

“Speaking of being human…” Stiles laughed, standing up and moving to his room doorway. “I’ll make you some breakfast.”

Derek wanted to kiss him.

When they got downstairs, Stiles pointed to a chair in his dining room, indicating for Derek to sit there. Derek did as he was told. He watched Stiles open up his fridge and dig deep inside of it before he pulled out a pack of bacon.

“Secret stash. My dad’s not supposed to have it so I put it way in the back where he’s too lazy to look.” Stiles held it up in victory, causing Derek to laugh quietly.

“Do you want any eggs? Toast?” Stiles asked.

“Both. Please. Eggs - sunny side up.”

“As you wish, master.” Stiles joked with a bow.

Stiles was about midway through his cooking when Derek heard a car pull up in front of the house. Stiles didn’t seem to notice, or care if he did. The front door was unlocked with a bit of effort before it was swung open.

“Is that bacon I smell?” A gruff, older man’s voice rung out to the house.

 

“Dad?!” Stiles yelled in confusion.


	5. Ghosts of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek meets the sheriff for the first time, the pack is concerned, and Derek's past comes back to haunt him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, here's another chapter that I'm very proud of. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> P.S. I revamped chapter one to match the formatting of the rest of the story. It didn't change much of anything, but it added page breaks and italics for Derek's thoughts. <3

Derek didn’t know how his morning had turned from trying to help Stiles finish their project to staring into the cold, judgemental eyes of the Sheriff of Beacon Hills. Stiles was currently handing him his plate of breakfast, exactly how he wanted it. Despite his toast being a little burnt, his eggs were perfectly runny and his bacon was as crispy as he liked it. However, he couldn’t truly enjoy it with the sheriff staring him down like he was dirt under his shoe.

“So,” the sheriff cleared his throat, “is there a reason that you brought someone I don’t know into my house this early in the morning, Stiles?”

Stiles sat down next to Derek with his own plate of breakfast. Apparently he liked his eggs scrambled. “Um… we’re partners! In science! We were just… doing our homework.”

The sheriff nodded, looking at their plates of food. “You want to make me some breakfast too, Stiles?”

“But didn’t you have some before you left?”

“Can’t a man get hungry again in a few hours?” The older man looked at Stiles pointedly, causing Stiles to give up any sort of argument he might have had. Stiles stood up and moved back to the kitchen. “And don’t go easy on the bacon!”

“You shouldn’t be hav-” The sheriff gave him another look. “Will not be going easy on the bacon.” Stiles saluted.

The older man looked at Derek again with a small smile on his face. “So, how about we get to know each other.” He started. “I… am Noah Stilinski. Father of Stiles Stilinski, and sheriff of Beacon Hills Police Department. What’s your name, young man?”

Derek coughed to clear his throat and sat up a bit more straight, “I’m Derek. Hale. Derek Hale.”

Noah’s face was surprised for a second, looking over Derek’s face before nodding solemnly. “I’m sorry... For your loss.”

Derek bit down on his teeth before he nodded in thanks. “I’m sorry for yours too. Stiles, uh, told me.”

Noah smiled a little at that before his mouth became a straight line again. “So Derek, how old are you?”

“I’m, uh… seventeen. I’ll be eighteen in August.”

“Ah… you’ve got a lot of time until then. How many months is that, seven?”

“Six, sir.”

The sheriff nodded as silence fell over them. It lasted for at least ten seconds before Noah started to speak again.

“Stiles is a smart kid, you know?” He asked, a serious look on his face.

Derek nodded.

“He’s gonna skip junior year and head straight to being a senior. The principal’s already talked to me about the scholarships he has lined up when he gets out because of his academic excellence and attendance. What are your plans after school?”

Derek scooted his chair in as a nervous tick as he cleared his throat again. “Um… well, coach Finstock has talked to me about getting a scholarship to play for a college team. I’m the quarterback for the high school team and we’ve been undefeated since I took the position.”

“I’ve heard of that. You and that one wide receiver have never missed a pass, isn’t that right?”

“Isaac Lahey, yeah. We have a lot of good chemistry together and know each other well. He’ll probably get a scholarship too thanks to his touchdown record. With both of us on the same offense, it’s been impossible to stop us.” Derek smiled at that thought. They were truly a force to be reckoned with. They used their superhuman agility in games, sure, but who were they hurting with it? They were _good_ at football. It wasn’t their fault that they had extra tools to use.

“Yeah. You know, another thing I heard was that the two of you were taking enhancement drugs to get ahead. Is that true?” The sheriff looked directly into Derek’s eyes. Derek knew that Noah wasn’t a wolf, but for some reason he felt like if he lied, the sheriff would know anyway.

“No. I’ve never used any drugs.” Derek said with affirmation, staring back into Noah’s eyes to avoid any sort of suspicion.

“They just say that that boy… Isaac. He showed up out of nowhere. It started a whole thing in the police department. One of my deputies was completely determined to investigate you guys after his son got benched to make room for your friend.”

“I’m sorry to your deputy’s son, but Isaac is just good at the game.”

“I see… he’s not the same Isaac I remember, that’s for sure. I heard he’s been living better now.”

Derek tilted his head with a look of confusion in his eyes. “You know Isaac?”

Noah nodded, “Got a few calls a some odd years ago about his house. Neighbors were making concerned calls about the fact that they heard a little boy crying or screaming. I could never pin down his father, the bastard, and Isaac was too scared to just… _tell_ me what was going on so I could help him. I’m glad that… you guys managed to do something about it. I wish I could have been more help.”

Derek looked down at his untouched meal with a grimace. “He was… hard to help. He’d been through a lot. But he’s doing better now. He goes to therapy every week, sometimes I go with him if he’s feeling uneasy. It’s been a huge help for him.”

There was silence between them again until Stiles came out of the kitchen with another plate of food, looking absolutely flustered and annoyed.

“Here!” Stiles said, laying down the food in front of his dad. Noah looked down at it with a hint of annoyance on his face.

“There’s only two pieces of bacon here, Stiles.” He said.

“You’re lucky I gave you _one._ ” Stiles gave him a pointed look.

“But why does he get to have four?!”

“Because Derek isn’t a fifty year old man and he works out so it balances the grease.” Stiles said as he threw a piece of his own bacon into his mouth, chewing it angrily.

Derek scoffed at his frustration with his father as he grabbed one of his own pieces of bacon and put it on the sheriff’s plate. Noah’s eyes widened before he smiled widely.

“I like this one, Stiles.” He said in a jolly tone as he took a bite of one of the bacon strips.

“Don’t encourage him, Derek!” Stiles punched his arm, making Derek laugh as he dipped his toast in his eggs with a smile. Maybe this wasn’t so bad afterall.

* * *

Once their breakfast was over, Derek told Stiles he thought it was time for him to head out, mostly because he felt it a bit awkward to sit around with the sheriff for this long. Stiles also seemed to be annoyed with his father for coming home early and getting unhealthy food out of it. Stiles agreed with him, saying that he needed to finish up homework for some other classes before the day ended anyway. Derek got up and went upstairs to gather his jacket before he left, but thanks to his supernatural hearing he picked up on the conversation happening downstairs.

“He’s a good kid, Stiles. I approve.” Noah said quietly.

“Approve? Approve of what?” Stiles asked incredulously.

“Your… you know I don’t judge any of that. I think you two work well together.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Are you two not… you know, dating?” The sheriff asked, confused.

“Dating?!” Stiles whisper-yelled. “No. Hell no. I don’t know how you got that idea.”

“Well, you sneak him in after I leave and then I come back to you making him breakfast and then you sit next to him instead of me for breakfast. I don’t know, it looked like it to me!”

“Well you would be very, veeeeeeery wrong. We’re nowhere near anything like that, I mean, I’m still gunning for Lydia Martin! You know that, dad, she’s like my _dream_ girl. Derek and I would never… I mean he’s just…”

Derek couldn’t hear anything else. He already knew Stiles didn’t like him like _that_ but to hear it from his own mouth felt like something new entirely. It _hurt._ He grabbed his jacket and walked downstairs, making an effort that his footsteps were heard so they would stop their conversation. He threw his jacket on angrily as he moved towards the door, not waiting for Stiles to let him out.

Stiles, however, caught up to him. “Hey! Woah dude, don’t let me stop you from whatever place you have to be.” He laughed awkwardly as he opened the door for Derek. “I’ll, uh, see you at school on Monday?”

Derek nodded, leaving the house in a haste. “See you.” He said curtly and jumped into his car, speeding off without a second thought.

* * *

Derek did see Stiles on Monday, but he barely spoke to him. He tried his best to keep their conversations short and meaningless, despite Stiles’s chipper attitude. Stiles sat next to him at lunch, trying to initiate conversation again, only for Derek to give one word replies. He eventually gave up in favor of talking to Scott and Isaac while occasionally fawning over Lydia. Derek hated her. It wasn’t her fault that Stiles was in love with her, but it _was_ her fault for being such a bitch to him. Derek would give Stiles everything he could ever want, but instead he loved this woman who looked at him like he was nothing less than a bug on the ground.

Through the rest of the week, Derek ignored Stiles. Stiles texted him, but Derek simply read them and moved on. They were simple conversation starters or attempts at telling Derek about their day. At one point, he asked when Derek wanted to work on their actual presentation as it was due Monday morning. Derek ignored that too.

It was Friday when Isaac met him at his locker with a concerned look in his eyes.

“What did Stiles do to you?” He asked with his arms crossed over his chest

“What?” Derek asked with annoyance biting into his voice.

“You’ve been giving him the cold shoulder all week. Did he do something to you?”

“No.” Derek curtly responded, moving to walk around his. Isaac grabbed his arm and pulled him back to his original spot.

“Come on, Derek, you can talk to me.” Isaac stared up at him with determination in his eyes. “If he hurt you, I should know. We all should know. We’re letting him sit at our table right next to you.”

“He didn’t hurt me, Isaac. It’s none of your business.”

“What’s gotten into you?” He asked in shock. “One week you’re on top of the world, smiling at everyone and teaching _Scott_ to play football. Now you’re treating everyone like shit.”

“Then maybe you should take the **fucking** hint **.** ” Derek growled, pulling his arm out of Isaac’s grip and pushing past his. He heard his small gasp of surprise, but he didn’t care. He was so tired of his pack getting in his business all the fucking time. Couldn’t he have his own thoughts and feelings once in awhile? Why was it so hard for them to just leave him alone.

Boyd was the next one to stop him, after his English class had ended. He grabbed Derek’s shoulder as he walked up to his side.

“Derek… are you okay?”

Derek seriously felt like he was going to wolf out in the middle of the hallway. He growled at Boyd, “ **I’m fine.** ” and forcefully pulled away from him. He didn’t follow him.

After science class, Erica was the last one to find him. Derek couldn’t help but feel his claws elongate at the sight of his final pack member at his locker.

“ **What?** ” He growled out.

“Shut up, you fucking asshole.” Erica responded, squaring up to stand right in front of Derek. Erica was shorter than him by a few inches, so Derek had to look down at her when they stood this close to each other.

“You’ve been treating everyone like we’re your enemies _all_ week, and I’m not dealing with it anymore.” Erica growled out, her fists clenched at her sides. “Isaac tried to talk to you because she thought _you_ were a victim of something, but you treated him like he was invading on your space. We _care_ about you, Derek. But you just throw that in our face because of what?”

Derek opened his mouth, but Erica kept talking.

“Because you want your own agency to fuck up without everyone _looking_ at you. Get over yourself, you fucking dick. I don’t care what you did. I don’t care _why_ you’re mad at the fucking world. But you don’t bring that shit to your **family** when we’re the **only** ones that give a shit about you for more than your stupid undefeated record or your last name. If you want to be mad at Stiles, or Scott, or your mom, or _whatever_ the fuck it is, you leave that shit with _them._ Isaac, Boyd and I don’t deserve to deal with your self-decrepitating bullshit.”

They stared into each other’s eyes with anger swelling inside them both. Derek knew that people were staring at them now, but he didn’t care. Erica was vicious. She wasn’t afraid of anything and she didn’t care what people thought of her. If they started fighting in the hallway, she wouldn’t think twice about what people would think of it.

Derek sighed, his shoulders dropping. “Can you get the pack to meet in the gym?” He asked, defeated. “I’ll talk about everything.” He promised.

Erica nodded and left him to open his locker on his own. As she walked away, she looked directly into the face of a student that had been staring at them and grinned wildly. The student turned away immediately.

 

When Derek looked towards the lunch room, he met eyes with Stiles. The dotted boy had a look of shock on his face, but he quickly covered it up with an awkward smile before turning to the cafeteria by himself. Derek let his head drop to his locker door in frustration.

* * *

Derek walked into the gym with his hands in his pockets. He felt his claws digging into his thighs, but he didn’t care. All of his pack were sitting on the bleachers. Erica stared at him expectantly while Isaac had his head down and Boyd didn’t meet his eyes. Derek stopped in front of them, sighing as he looked to the ground.

“I’m sorry,” he started.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Erica asked mischievously.

“ **I’m sorry.”** Derek growled out. “I’ve… been a dick.”

“You can say that again.” Boyd huffed.

Derek rolled his eyes, looking up to meet Isaac’s sad eyes. Out of everyone, he was the one who deserved Derek’s treatment the least. It was hard to think of what to say to them. He didn’t have a true excuse, he just had feelings.

“I’ve been thinking a lot lately. It’s got my mind in a lot of… bad spots.” Derek explained carefully. “I can’t concentrate. I’m not sleeping. I’m sorry that I’ve taken that out on you guys.”

“What are you thinking about?” Erica asked, her joking tone gone and replaced by genuine concern.

“I…” Derek pulled his hands out of his pockets so that he wouldn’t dig into his thighs anymore. He crossed his arms instead. “I like someone, for the first time since Kate.” He confessed.

“Stiles.” Isaac chimed in finally. Derek just nodded, clenching his jaw.

“So… liking him reminds you of your time with Kate?” Boyd asked.

“No. It’s not like that, it’s…” Derek sighed, rubbing his hand over his face and through his hair. “I… I’ve never liked a guy before. Okay? I didn’t know I liked guys. But he’s… I don’t know. He has… something about him.”

“Well, you should go after him!” Erica threw her hands up. “I mean, I think you two would be cute together.”

“He likes Lydia.” Derek grumbled.

“Well, yeah, but that’s like a celebrity crush. You could definitely pull his att-”

“He told his dad that we could never be a thing. He sounded _disgusted_ by the idea of us when his dad mistook us for a couple. He was so adamant about telling his dad that I was _nothing_ like that to him and that he was gunning for Lydia Martin. That she was his _dream girl_ and I was… nothing. I’m just some fucking _guy_ in his life that helps him get closer to Lydia. It’s fucking… it fucking hurts.” Derek let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He felt tears welling up in his eyes, but he blinked them away. He noticed all his pack standing up before they walked towards him and enveloped him in their arms.

“I’m gonna kill him.” Erica growled.

“It’s not his fault… he didn’t even know I could hear him.” Derek sighed, accepting their group embrace.

Erica just grumbled nonsense to herself as she dug herself into Derek’s chest.

“I don’t want… everyone to be mean to him. It’s not his fault that he doesn’t like me… like that. I don’t hate him. I just have to get over it, which is what all this… anger is about.”

Isaac nodded with his head on Derek’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay.” He said gently.

Derek nodded.

“I know.”

* * *

Stiles didn’t text him that weekend. Derek assumed that he must have gotten the hint that he didn’t want to talk. He felt bad, but he needed to protect his own feelings. He couldn’t talk to Stiles yet. His family had realized something was wrong with him the entire week, but he wouldn’t budge about the issue. Even Laura hadn’t been able to make headway with him.

Derek was in bed moping to himself when he heard a knock at the door. He groaned, rolling over to look towards it. His uncle, Peter, was standing in the now open doorway. Peter had a big smile on his face as he raised his arms in celebration.

“Ah… my beautiful nephew. It’s so good to see you!”

“What are you doing here, Peter?” Derek asked, grimacing.

Peter held a hand to his chest in faux heartbreak. “Oh, Derek, you wound me.”

Derek just rolled his eyes and lifted himself up on his fist, waiting for Peter to explain himself. His uncle sat in his computer chair, spinning in it once before looking at Derek with a serious look in his eyes.

“Your mother tells me you’re not yourself lately.”

“Can I ever have emotions in peace without my entire family trying to be my therapist?” Derek asked, annoyed.

“It’s our job to look out for when you’re not yourself. It means we care about you.” Peter explained, causing Derek to scoff as fell flat on his back.

“I appreciate it. But... I don’t need to talk about my feelings.”

“Isaac told me it’s about a crush you have.”

Derek glared at his uncle. “Isaac’s always telling my business.”

“What’s going on, Derek?” Peter sighs.

Derek was silent for a while then. Why did he have to tell _everyone_ about this except the person it was _actually_ about? He hated it. All of this pain and venting, just for Stiles to never even know how he felt. It was so pointless.

“I like someone that doesn’t like me back. It’s not a big deal.” Derek finally confessed. Peter sat back in his seat, nodding his head in thought.

“Who are they?” Peter asked.

“This… guy… at school. We met a few weeks ago.”

“A few weeks ago? Oh, you’ve got it bad.” Peter laughed.

Derek huffed. “I don’t understand it either. He just showed up and it was like my heart just… I don’t know.” He sighed, looking away from Peter.

Peter hummed in thought as he slowly spun in circles on Derek’s chair. “And you know he doesn’t like you back?” He asked. Derek just nodded. He didn’t want to have to tell that story again.

“I see.” Peter continued. “Well then, you only have one option, really.”

Derek looked back to him with curious eyes. Peter stopped spinning, giving Derek a gentle smile.

“You have to let it go. Whoever this guy is, he must be something special to get your attention this way after… everything. I’m sure he’s a good kid. You can’t hate him for not liking you that way, or for loving someone else. Sometimes, when you love someone, the best thing you can do for them is to be _happy_ for them and support them.” Peter rolled over, putting his hand on Derek’s shoulder. “I know it’s gonna hurt. It’ll probably hurt forever. But, if you still want to be there for them, you have to take that pain and stifle it for them.”

Derek groaned with sadness filling his eyes again. “But… what if…”

“If you want to know so bad, then you have to bite the bullet and _tell him_ how you feel. Otherwise, this will always just be you being hurt by a _possibility_ and not the truth.” Peter stood up, giving Derek another reassuring squeeze before he made his way out of the room.

After lying in silence for a few minutes, Derek decided he would talk to Stiles about everything. Monday. He would talk to him Monday.

* * *

When Derek arrived to school on Monday, he knew something was wrong. Something was _different._ He could smell something familiar, something sweet but it left the taste of blood in his mouth. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Are you okay, Derek?” Isaac asked him. He’d followed him to his locker, as usual, but he must have noticed how hard Derek was thinking.

“Yeah… Is there something different about the smell here? There’s something new.” Derek asked.

Isaac shrugged, “I don’t smell anything. Maybe you caught a whiff of someone wearing new cologne or deodorant?”

Derek’s eyes widened. _Perfume_ . It was perfume that he could smell. It was Kate’s perfume. He looked around wildly as his breathing became heavy. It was the exact same as she wore when he was younger. He’d always liked it because Kate wore so little that it didn’t overpower his sense. But now it was all over. It was so _strong_.

Isaac put a hand on his shoulder with concern in his eyes. “Derek, what’s wrong? Derek. Look at me. Derek!”

Derek’s eyes snapped to Isaac’s. “Kate’s perfume.” He whispered in panic. “I smell it. I smell it here.”

Isaac looked around quickly before he looked back at Derek. “Someone probably just ended up buying and using the same perfume she had. Don’t worry. I’ll be on the lookout and I’ll tell Erica and Boyd. Everything will be ok. We’ll look for whoever it is.” Isaac assured him. Derek nodded, wanting to believe Isaac that it was nothing more than someone buying a new perfume. Isaac stayed with him as he shakily got his supplies out, then walked him to his first class rather than letting him go alone. Once he got out of his History class, Erica was waiting for him at the door. She looked agitated, but not from him. She kept looking over her shoulder as they walked and he knew that she was just as worried about Kate Argent’s existence as he was. She walked him to his science class.

Derek sat down at his seat in Science with his head in his hands. _We haven’t figured out who the fuck it is yet. I swear if she’s some sort of substitute teacher I’ll ki-_ his thoughts were interrupted by a stack of flashcards being slid between his elbows. He looked up to see Stiles standing there with an awkward smile.

“Oh. Stiles. Hi.” Derek said, staring up at the geeky boy. “What is… what are these?” He asked.

Stiles sighed quietly. “It’s uh… the presentation. I wrote down what we’re saying in the flashcards since we didn’t work on it… together.”

Derek’s eyes went wide. “That’s… today? I thought it was next week.”

Stiles shook his head. “I tried texting you to set up a day for us to work together but you didn’t respond.”

Derek looked down in guilt, his hands moving to grab the stack of cards. “I’m sorry. Can I talk to you?”

Stiles looked like he was about to respond, but Mr. Vanguard walked in at that exact moment and moved to his seat. Derek sighed.

“At lunch. Can I talk to you at lunch?”

Stiles nodded to Derek as he walked by and took his seat. Derek had a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

Once it came time for Derek and Stiles to present, Derek stood up with his cards held in his hands. He didn’t want to get Stiles a worse grade by fucking this up. Together they went through multiple facts as Stiles’s powerpoint presentation played on the projector. However, halfway through the presentation, Derek smelt her again. Kate’s perfume suddenly became incredibly strong and completely consumed Derek’s senses. He looked over at the door of the classroom, and he could have sworn he saw her in the window. He saw a tuft of blonde hair move past the door and he knew it had to be her. It had to be. He almost instinctively walked towards the door before he saw Stiles’s eyes looking at him in concern. He met eyes with him, and when he focused on him he realized he couldn’t smell Kate anymore. There wasn’t anything other than him. When he finally calmed down, he noticed that Stiles was looking away from him now and back towards the class. He had taken over for Derek instead, finishing the presentation for the both of them. Vanguard gave them their props on doing a good job with the project as they both took their seats again. Derek sighed to himself, putting his head in his hands again as he ignored the other presentations for the rest of the class.

When class was over, Stiles was first to leave again, but as he was leaving he gave Derek a smile. Derek felt himself smiling back for the first time in a whole week.

Isaac was waiting for him when he got out like usual with anxiety rolling off of him. “We still haven’t found her or anyone like her.” Isaac said. “We can’t discern the scent because we’ve never smelt it before so it’s just mixing in with everyone else. But there’s no Kate in this school as far as we know.”

Derek nodded. That made him feel somewhat better at least. Together, they made their way to the cafeteria. Isaac never left his side throughout the entire trip. Even for his chicken sandwich.

When they reached the lunch table, Erica and Boyd were already waiting for them with their food. Boyd looked stoic, but Derek could see him looking around every now and then to try and find something suspicious. Erica, however, looked ready to kill someone. Derek noticed that neither Lydia nor Jackson were at the table.

Stiles arrived next, sitting right next to Derek, with Scott in tow. Erica looked even more annoyed at their presence, no doubt wanting to talk about the Kate Argent situation. Derek sighed, looking over at Stiles who looked back at him expectantly. Derek went to speak, but was interrupted by the arrival of Lydia, Jackson, and someone new that he’d never seen. She was a beautiful, lithe girl with brown hair. She had a very prominent jawline, with almond shaped brown eyes. Scott looked at her like she was an angel gracing his presence. But, there was something else. Derek smelt it. It was her. She was the one with the perfume. Some of the concern washed away from him by finding out that it wasn’t Kate Argent that had invaded the school, but his leg bounced with anxiety at the fact that the smell was so close to him now, and would be for the rest of the school year probably.

Lydia smirked at all of them as she motioned to the new girl, “Everyone, this is Allison. She’s new.”

Everyone gave her a wave of welcome, some actually saying their greetings before they got back to their own conversations and food. After the three late arrivals sat down, Scott didn’t waste any time in trying to get the new girl’s attention. She’d ended up seated next to him thanks to Jackson taking up the other side of the table to himself.

“Hi! I’m Scott. McCall. Scott McCall.” Derek heard Stiles groan as his best friend completely floundered in his attempts to start a conversation with the new girl, but she just laughed. She had a beautiful smile.

“I’m Allison. Argent. Allison Argent.”

Everything stopped for Derek. The entire world completely stopped revolving. _Argent._ Derek thought. _An Argent is here._ His entire pack suddenly looked at him. Erica looked like she was about to shift and tear Allison’s throat out with her teeth, Isaac was breathing a bit heavier too and Boyd’s jaw was clenched so hard Derek thought it would break. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t stand to be here. He had to breathe. _I can’t breathe. I can’t fucking breathe. It’s too strong. Is my family okay? Is Laura okay? Would they call me if something happened? What are they fucking doing_ **_back_ ** _?_ He thought all of these things as he tried to stand up out of his seat. His foot caught the end of the bench, making him stumble, but he didn’t care. He hastily walked out of the lunch room, trying to breathe. For some reason, no matter how deep a breath he took, no air would reach his lungs. He couldn’t breathe.

Derek didn’t remember how it happened, but the next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes to Stiles staring at him. Stiles’s hands were on both sides of his face, rubbing small circles on the sides of his temple with thumbs.

“You okay there, big guy?” Stiles asked gently. Derek opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He just shook his head instead. Stiles nodded understandingly as he kept rubbing circles in his head. “Just breathe with me for a little bit, okay?”

Stiles looked him in the eyes as he slowly took a deep breath. Derek followed him, but he still felt like the air couldn’t reach his lungs no matter how hard he tried. Stiles let out the breath after a few seconds, and Derek did the same. Then they repeated the action. Every time they repeated the exercise, Derek felt his lungs inflating a bit more as he calmed down. He felt tears falling out of his eyes, but he didn’t care. He just kept staring into Stiles’s gentle, understanding eyes as they breathed together.

Eventually, Stiles started talking again. “I used to get panic attacks a lot, when my mom first died. I still get them sometimes. But, back then, they were a lot worse. I recognized it in Science, you looked like you couldn’t breathe for a few seconds.” He said. “I know it’s hard to handle them, so I came to help. I hope it was okay.”

Derek nodded vehemently, sniffling quietly before he wrapped his arms around Stiles’s smaller frame and pulled him closer. He buried his head in his shoulder as he focused on the sound of Stiles’s heartbeat. He heard Stiles laugh a little in surprise as he wrapped his arms around Derek’s neck and stroked his hair.

“It’s alright, buddy. We can stay like this as long as you need to.”

Derek nodded into his shoulder. They stayed like that for another thirty seconds before Derek sniffed and began pulling away, feeling a lot calmer than before. When they met eyes, Stiles gave him a small, reassuring smile.

“Better?”

Derek nodded his head slightly. “Yeah. Thank you. For helping.”

Stiles shook his head. “It’s no problem. I did what any good friend would.”

“No. You went above what a good friend does. My own p- friends didn’t show up here.”

Stiles laughed awkwardly, “Uh, yeah, they actually tried to but I stopped them. They were all kinda freaking out and I realized I was probably the only one that knew what to do in this situation so I took over. They’re all at the table probably wondering if you’re alive or not.”

Derek smiled at that thought. He could just see the daggers that Erica was glaring into Allison’s head. There was a moment of silence as Derek realized his hands were still on Stiles’s waist and Stiles’s arms were still around his neck. He wanted to pull away in an awkward haste but Stiles hadn’t seemed to notice so he just let it be.

“I’m sorry,” Derek said, “for being such an asshole this week. I’ve been dealing with… a lot. I should have told you instead of ignoring you.”

Stiles looked down, realizing Derek’s hands were on his waist and immediately pulled away with a blush rising on his cheeks. He coughed, “No, no. It’s fine, dude. It kinda sucked thinking I did something wrong when we hung out but it’s good to know it wasn’t me.”

Derek nodded with a half smile. “Yeah. Not you. It was…”

“Whatever happened out there?” Stiles finished for him. Derek nodded. “Do you… want to talk about it?” Stiles asked. He looked like he was tip-toeing around the question and didn’t want to push him any further.

“Not… not really.”

Stiles nodded immediately. “Yeah. That’s okay. It helps some people, sometimes.”

Derek nodded as well. “One day.” He promised.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Stiles looked at him again. “You think you’re ready to face the world again?”

Derek looked at him as a shaky breath left his body, after searching Stiles’s eyes for an answer, he finally responded with a nod. Stiles stood up, wiping his hands on his pants before he reached down to help Derek up. They left the bathroom together.

 

Derek tried not to read too far into the fact that Stiles never left go of his hand, even when they got back to the cafeteria.


	6. An Alpha's Command

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting Allison goes about as well as expected, and Talia calls a sudden pack meeting that leaves Derek in distress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter. I finally learned how to properly write dialogue so that's something new you'll notice in this one but I don't know if I have the energy to go back and redo all the dialogue in the past chapters...

Derek and Stiles arrived back to their lunch table, hand in hand, with eyes glued onto them. Isaac and Scott both looked at their hands confused, while Erica had a small smile on her face. They sat down next to each other again and Stiles let go of Derek’s hand while still giving him a reassuring smile. Derek resisted the urge to grab his hand again.

Isaac was the first to speak, quietly asking Derek “Are you okay?”

Derek looked at him and gave him a small nod, “I am… as much as I can be.”

Isaac nodded in understanding. There was silence at the table for awhile then. Nobody wanted to be the first to break their awkward hush. However, Lydia took the opportunity to question Allison about her life.

“So, why did you transfer mid school-year?” she asked the brunette.

Allison cleared her throat, realizing that she was going to be only conversation at the quiet table, “Well, my dad never liked my old school. We lived in the middle of nowhere for awhile, so my class was only, like… 30 kids? And we shared every class. It was pretty boring.

“So, eventually he just threw up his hands and was like ‘That’s it! We’re going back to Beacon Hills!’ and now… here I am! I’ve only been away for two years so it doesn’t feel that surreal, just kinda weird that I’m trying to make new friends in the last half of senior year.” she laughed. Scott looked entirely enthralled by her story. Derek couldn’t bear to see it. Scott was such an innocent and naive young man. He could almost see himself in him, the way that he looked at Allison. 

“Only 30 kids? What could you even do for fun there?” Lydia asked, stabbing her fork into her salad.

“Well my family owned a pretty decent area of land. I’ve always been an avid archer, so my dad would set up targets for me to get practice in when I was bored or had nothing to do. Which was most of the time, honestly…” 

“Did you just shoot targets or did you hunt?” Erica chimed in.

“Hunt?” Allison looked over at her with guarded eyes. She’d probably noticed Erica’s constant glaring.

“Yeah. Animals. Did you hunt animals? I mean, if you lived in the middle of nowhere, I’m sure you had  _ plenty _ of game to hunt. Still targets can only be fun for so long, right?” Erica smiled innocently at Allison, as if she were genuinely interested in her life. Derek gave her a warning glare, but she wasn’t looking his way.

“No. I don’t like hunting animals,” Allison said firmly.

“Really? You don’t like hunting deer? Or  _ wolves? _ ” 

Boyd growled quietly at her. Derek could hear him whisper “Erica!” in warning so quietly that only their ears would pick it up.

“ **No.** I don’t like hunting animals,” Allison said again, glaring at Erica. They had a standstill then between their individual looks. Erica smiling at Allison like she couldn’t notice her annoyance and Allison staring daggers into Erica.

Jackson spoke up then, “So what if she did hunt animals, anyway? Why are you up her ass, Reyes?”

Erica then turned her attention to him, “Oh, nothing, of course. I was just curious what the new girl did in her life. Why can Lydia be interested, but not me?”

“Because Lydia isn’t so prying about it,” Jackson scoffed.

“She’s a bitch any other time, I wonder why the new girl gets new treatment…” Erica looked past Jackson over to the red head, who gave her a deadly glare in return.

Lydia tossed her hair over her shoulder, looking back at Allison, “I don’t have time for people like you, Erica Reyes.”

“Of course you don’t, queen bee. You don’t have time for anyone other than yourself and anyone who treats you as their superior. I’m so sorry that I’ll never grovel at your feet the way you probably want this new girl to.” 

Lydia gripped her fork tightly as her lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn’t respond. Another awkward silence fell over the table. Derek felt Stiles’s leg bouncing with anxiety next to him and gently pressed his hand on it in comfort. It steadily slowed down to a stop as he looked back to him with a small smile, unconvincingly veiled with restlessness. They were all saved when the bell rung, signaling the end of lunch. 

The pack stood up together along with Stiles, who was waiting for Scott to follow. Scott, however, was still enamored by the new girl and waved for Stiles to go on without him. Stiles gave a small huff of annoyance in response, but followed Derek’s pack out of the cafeteria. They didn’t speak as they walked out, everyone moving their separate ways other than Stiles, who followed Derek all the way to his locker. 

He stood there awkwardly, with his face scrunched up as if he were looking for words. Derek finally met his eyes, causing Stiles to open his mouth, “What was that all about?” he asked.

Derek sighed, “Erica doesn’t really have a filter.” 

“I noticed. But she’s never been that… forward. She looked so angry at Allison, but she’s new so… why?” 

Derek lowered his eyes. He wanted to tell Stiles. He wanted to tell him that Allison’s family killed his dad. That they were basically sworn enemies. That Allison probably had the power to kill him at any moment, and it was a basically a battle of who shoots first. But, he couldn’t. He would never want Stiles to be a part of that. He made a mistake by becoming his friend. 

“Erica has trust issues,” Derek resigned to say, not being able to think of anything else, “Today’s been a bad day for her so she probably just took it out on the new girl. Sorry that it made lunch really awkward for everyone.” 

“It’s not fair for her to take her bad day out on someone who just showed up…” Stiles crossed his arms, leaning on the locker next to Derek’s, “Allison doesn’t seem so bad. Other than how she’s taking my best friend’s complete attention, I think she’s cool.” 

“Until Lydia brainwashes her to be just like her.”

Stiles was silent after that comment, looking down at the floor.

Derek glanced over at him, “Sorry, I know you… like her.”

“Am I wrong for liking her?” Stiles asked. Derek could hear the hint of insecurity in his voice.

“You can’t control who you like,” he said.

“But, with her…” Stiles started, biting his lip, “I don’t… I don’t like her because of her personality, you know? I just look at her and… I’m mesmerized. She just has that for me.”

Derek stared at his math book with disdain, “She’s rude to you all the time. It’s like she’s a celebrity and you’re her devoted fanboy that accepts anything they do to you. You don’t know her, and she doesn’t  _ want  _ you to know her because she likes that you’re beneath her. She likes that she can do whatever she wants to you. You sit at the bottom of her totem pole  _ happily _ because it means you get some sort of reaction out of her, no matter how bad. I think you deserve better than that.” 

Derek looked at Stiles, witnessing the heartbreak on his face as he listened to Derek. Derek wanted to hug him, but decided not to. Stiles just nodded, giving him a brave smile.

“Thanks for the pep talk, Derek,” he said before walking away.

Derek just sighed, slamming his locker shut before he walked off to his class.

* * *

After school, Derek and Isaac managed to run into Stiles again. The dotted boy looked agitated with his back to his locker and his foot tapping impatiently on the floor. He barely even noticed the wolves as they came to a stop by his side.

“Waiting on someone?” Isaac asked.

Stiles looked over at him with annoyance written on his face. He waved his hand towards the hallway in front of him, “Scott always meets me here after school so I can give him a ride home. I can’t leave without him.” 

“Why not go look for him then?” Derek curiously asked. 

Stiles glared at him, “Because it’s  _ routine _ . I shouldn’t have to go look for him.” 

As Derek was about to make another counterpoint, he heard the sound of Scott’s laughter coming from the hallway. He looked over to see Scott walking side by side with Allison. Derek could barely keep the grimace off his face. 

“ _ Finally _ ,” Stiles groaned, “Come on, Scott, I have to get home.”

Scott looked at him in surprise, “You’re still here? Dude it’s fine, Allison already told me she’d give me a ride since I thought you were gone.”

“Why would I leave without you?” Stiles asked, more annoyed now.

“I dunno…” Scott scratched his head, “I mean, is it fine if I go with Allison anyway? She said she’d help me with my math homework.” 

“Whatever, dude. Go for it.” Stiles waved his hand at Scott who grinned widely and followed Allison (who looked just as naive and happy as he was) out of the building. 

Stiles pinched the bridge of his nose as he dropped his head back onto his locker door. “He’s fucking sprung on this girl already,” he complained.

Derek scoffed, “I never knew he was so easy to win over.” 

Stiles waved his hand toward the front doors of the school in frustration, “She’s just like another Lydia Martin but she’s actually  _ nice _ to him so of course he’s taken for her. Now I’m gonna be stuck third-wheeling until one of them breaks the other’s heart.” 

“Not so wishful thinking…” Isaac said with surprise.

“Don’t get me wrong, Scott’s like… my brother. But he’s not all that smart. I don’t know how he’ll keep a girl like that tied down for long. I mean, we’re in the same boat. We’re geeks. We don’t win over people like Allison or Lydia. We get stuck being single until we’re in our late twenties, meet someone on a sketchy dating app who’s sub-average and then get married. But, after a few years of unhappiness we divorce them and end up living the rest of our lives as roommates.”

Derek and Isaac stared at Stiles with absolute confusion glaring out of their eyes. Stiles looked back at them and shrugged, “What? We’ve had this planned since we were thirteen and first fell in love with comic books. You pretty people wouldn’t get it. Pretty privilege.” 

Isaac looked over at Derek for answers who just shrugged at him in response. Stiles shook his head at them as he made his way towards the front doors.

“Poor, sad souls. Never knowing their power nor how those without it survive in this cruel, cruel world,” Stiles said woefully with his hand on his heart. He turned around towards them as he pushed the door open with his butt and let out a sad sigh before he disappeared into the day. 

Isaac and Derek stared at the exit for a few moments in silence before Isaac smirked at him, “You sure know how to pick ‘em.” 

Derek silently glared at Isaac as the boy laughed and walked off.

* * *

When the wolves arrived home, they were surprised to see Boyd and Erica’s respective cars in front of the Hale house. They had pack meetings sometimes, but they were usually told before school so they could all meet together beforehand.

“Do you think Talia called them?” Isaac asked, confusion laced in his voice.

“I… don’t know…” Derek responded, just as confused as Isaac was. They got of out the car together, making their way to the front door with unsteady steps. If there was an emergency pack meeting, something must be wrong. Maybe his mother had heard about the Argent’s returning and wanted to talk to them about precautions? 

Derek opened the door for him and the taller boy, moving into their living room to see their entire pack looking at them. They sat along the furniture with their alpha at the forefront. There were two seats left to take, both were wooden chairs that had been pulled from the dining room. 

There weren’t that many left in the Hale pack. Derek had done their numbers well by recruiting three of his friends, but other than that, there was no one but the Hales themselves. Erica looked anxious, her hands twirling around each other as if they were trying to find grounding. His sisters both looked confused but patient as they sat next to each other. Derek could see Cora holding onto Laura’s sleeve for confused comfort. Peter looked ultimately miserable. His uncle was usually the most jovial in these moments, always lightening the mood with jokes and witty nonsense. But, right now, he looked like another one of his family members had met their death. Derek met eyes with his mother’s, recognizing the stony face of an alpha who had to keep her emotions together for her pack. He knew that look. The same look that she held when she told them that his father had been killed. When Talia held that look, it meant that she was utterly broken inside and had to keep it from showing. But Derek knew. He could always tell.

Talia motioned for both of the boys to sit down with her hand, to which they obeyed. 

“Can you tell us what this is about now?” Cora asked worriedly.

Talia gave her a look that conveyed an order of patience before she nodded and addressed the room, “My pack. I’m sorry I can’t say that this meeting is because I have good news to share,” she let the announcement settle so that everyone could prepare themselves. All of the high school kids looked at each other anxiously, knowing what this must be about.

“The Argents have returned to Beacon Hills. All of them,” Talia looked around to each and every member of the pack directly in the eyes, “They’re not afraid of us. They know how much we lost, even after…” she eyes cast downward towards the floor before she continued, “Even after Jason’s death.”

She was right. When his pack stormed the Argents, they were unprepared but that didn’t mean they lost their ability to fight. None of the kids had gone, but the many cousins, uncles, aunts, and friends that Derek held dear did not follow his mother and his uncle back home that night. The few that did, left soon after in fear of what the hunters may come back with. 

Erica spoke up, “One of them… One of them goes to school with us. Allison.”

Talia nodded as if she already knew, “We killed everyone in there. But there were a few that were never at the outpost. Kate had probably seen us coming and escaped with her immediate family.” 

Derek looked down at his shoes. He hated talking about Kate, or the accident in general. It always brought back the bottomless pit of guilt in his stomach.

“So… what do we do? Are you telling us to get ready for a fight?” Laura asked, now holding Cora’s hand to try and comfort her own rising fear.

Talia looked down herself as Peter put a hand on his shoulder, taking over for her, “No. We would never ask any of you to go through what we went through that night. We can’t afford to lose  _ any _ of you,” he began as his fingers clenched on Talia’s shoulder, “I can’t tell you that you’re all going to be happy with what we’ve decided. I can’t force those of you who chose to become a part of this to follow us through either. You had a choice to be bitten, and you have a choice now as well.”

Talia put her hand on her brother’s hand as she looked up at him to give him a reassuring nod. She looked back at her pack again and spoke in a resolute voice, “We are moving to New York as soon as possible. Once we find out if the rest of you will be coming with us, we will purchase the tickets and head out immediately. I don’t want you to feel like you  _ have _ to. We want to bring you with us because we want you to be safe. But you have families too, and if you aren’t ready to leave them, we will let you stay but you will  _ always _ be part of our pack. The bond may be weaker, but you will always feel us with you..

Everyone was silent from the impact of the announcement. Erica looked shocked beyond belief. Even Boyd, who was almost always as stoic as an unmoving boulder, looked like he’d been given the decision of a lifetime. 

Isaac let out a light, but half-hearted laugh, “I don’t really have a choice… so I’m in.” 

Talia smiled at him, reaching over to caress his cheek, “You are a Hale now, Isaac. We’ll take you with us wherever we go.”

Erica and Boyd looked at each other for a few seconds, as if they were searching each other for an answer before they nodded. Erica responded for the both of them, “We’ll go. It would kinda suck to die to a bunch of hunters by ourselves, I guess.” 

Talia turned her eyes to them now, smiling gently as she nodded. “We’ll be making transfer arrangements for all of you to go to school in New York. You can tell your parents it’s travel program for the last end of the school year as a senior trip?” 

Both of the betas slowly nodded. Derek noticed that they were holding hands, but decided to leave that question for another day. 

“I’ll forge some paperwork to make it look more legitimate,” Peter promised.

Talia sighed in relief as she sat back in her chair, her stony expression turning into one of happiness, “I was so scared one of you would want to stay. I didn’t know how I could cope with leaving any of you be-”

Derek interrupted her with a shaky, loud voice, “I-I’m not going.” 

Everyone’s eyes turned to him immediately, but he looked down at the floor instead of meeting any of them.

“Derek…” Laura started, but Talia held her hand up towards her.

“What? What do you mean you’re not going? You don’t have a choice, Derek, I’m not leaving you here,” Talia said in a stern voice that bordered on anger but was laced with confusion. 

“I can’t. I can’t leave. I-I mean… why do we have to run in the first place? We won once, can’t we do it again?” Derek gripped the edges of his seat to ground himself as his body begged him to run out of the room.

“We won with a group of heavily experienced,  _ grown _ wolves who knew how to fight. None of you apply in that scenario. If the Argents are back, it’s because they  _ know _ they can take us out if they wanted to. Maybe, in a better world, where we had been more prepared then yes, we could have stayed. But I can’t afford to lose you, Derek, so you will be on that plane to New York with us.” 

“No.”

“Why do you want to stay so badly?! You’re getting the same education, the same scholarships, you can play football there all you want… your pack is going, Derek. We’ll have each other.” 

“I… I have things here now. I have things I don’t want to lose. I can’t just leave them behind, mom. I want to stay; I want to protect them.” 

“Then what? What is it?” Talia asked. Derek could feel her eyes glaring into him, but he refused to meet them in fear of how they might sway his confidence.

He was silent, unable to respond. When he glanced up, he saw that the rest of the pack weren’t looking at him either. They all knew. Everyone knew, but Talia.

His alpha noticed, looking around the room while she threw her hands up, “What?! Does everyone know something that I don’t?!” she asked in an exasperated voice.

“Derek loves Stiles, so he doesn’t want to leave him behind…” Cora answered in a small voice. Derek went to argue with her that ‘love’ was a very strong word, but he decided not to when he heard Laura chide Cora for telling business that wasn’t hers. Cora just shrugged sadly as she looked down, “Mom was gonna find out someday anyway…”

Talia looked back at Derek now, her eyes piercing through him, “What’s this about loving someone?” 

Derek’s face heated up in a blush as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, “I-I don’t  **love** him… I ju-”

“ _ Him? _ ” Talia interrupted, her face contorted into one of horror and sorrow at the same time, “You… you never told me you liked men.”

“I was  _ going _ to… I just… I didn’t know how you would react if I told you that I wanted to start… seeing people again.”

“I thought that we… I thought that I…” Talia tried to find the right words to say as her eyes began to well up with tears, “I didn’t know that I scared you that much that you couldn’t come to me with something like that. Everyone knew… but me?” 

Derek nodded guiltily, his eyes unable to meet his mother’s again, “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you when the time was right… when I… If I ever confessed. Everyone else finding out wasn’t really… my choice.” 

Laura came to his defense with a hasty nod, pushing herself forward in the sofa she sat on, “Yeah, mom, he never really  _ told _ me he liked Stiles, I just kind of figured it out when I saw them together and I-”

“You saw them together? Where?” Talia asked immediately.

“I- Uh… in the clearing we use for training. They were playing football and…”

“You brought people here, that I didn’t know or approve of, without my permission, and hid it from me this entire time?” Talia looked angry now, staring at everyone in the pack with betrayal set in her eyes.

“He’s a good kid, mom…” Laura tried, but Talia only looked angrier then. 

“Then, Derek,” his mother looked at him then, waiting for him to meet her gaze, “Listen to me. I’m incredibly angry with everyone in this room right now, but I have more important things to say to you. As a mother, and as your alpha, I have to tell you that you cannot see this boy anymore.”

“W-What…?” Derek asked, his heart dropping to his gut. 

“He means a lot to you, doesn’t he? Enough to try and talk me out of leaving despite hunters being right next door?” Derek nodded, “Then you need to understand me when I say that hunters don’t care who he is. They don’t care that you love him, or that he’s not one of us, or if he wants the bite or doesn’t want the bite or that he knows what you are or not. They care about  _ hurting _ you. They will kill him, with no remorse, the same way they did to James. If you care about this boy, you will let him go.”

Derek just stared at his mother in horror. The idea of Stiles being targeted by people like Kate Argent was a terrifying thought.

“I’ll protect him,” he offered shakily.

“That’s not always an option.”

“But-”

“No, Derek. I’m sorry, but we’re going,” Talia said resolutely, standing up out of her chair. She meant to walk away, but Derek responded again.

“No.”

Talia turned to him again with sad eyes, crouching down to reach his eye level. She looked him in the eyes as hers bled red, “You will come to New York with us, and let that boy go.”

It was an alpha command. Talia rarely used it on the pack, since they always listened to her anyway. Derek felt it in his mind, the instinctive feeling of needing to follow that command. That he  _ should _ do what his  **alpha** commanded him to do. But there was a stronger feeling inside. A feeling that started in his gut, coursing through his bloodstream and through his limbs as it lifted towards his throat. It was like a banshee’s scream was building inside of him as his eyes started to glow their beta-golden color. 

He stared into his mother’s eyes—his  _ alpha’s _ eyes, and roared louder than he ever had before as he shifted. Hair grew from the sides of his face, almost reaching his chin as his ears elongated into pointy, wolf-like versions of themselves. The bridge of his nose grew in width and fangs grew from his canines.

**“NO!** ” he screamed in a deep, guttural voice.

The telepathic link between them severed for just a moment as the command was smacked away. He was breathing heavily afterwards, his mother staring at him in horror while his pack all shared the same stunned expression. Derek couldn’t take it. He stood up, and ran out of the house not even trying to shift back to his human form. He got into his car, barely hearing his older sister calling for him to come back. Derek didn’t think twice as he drove off with only one idea of where to go.

* * *

Derek pulled up in front of Stiles’s house in twenty minutes. He gave himself time to calm down, albeit slowly, and shift back to his human form. He knew his phone was blowing up with texts and calls, but he ignored it nonetheless. Slowly, he got out of his car. Derek noticed that the police cruiser wasn’t in the driveway, and took it as a small victory that he wouldn’t have to explain himself to the sheriff as well.

He made his way to the front door, trying to steady his breathing as he brought a hand up and gently knocked. It felt like forever before Stiles opened the door, slowly peeking his head into the opening. Derek saw his eyes go wide with surprise before he opened the door completely.

“Derek?” he asked.

“Hi. Sorry,” Derek started, feeling his breaths come back more labored than before. His wall of defense broke down the moment he saw Stiles.

“Hey, hey, buddy…” Stiles spoke softly, grabbing Derek’s arm to bring him inside. Derek whined at the touch, feeling his body begin to dissolve in Stiles’s presence, “What’s wrong?” Stiles gently asked as he closed the door behind them.

Derek stared into Stiles’s eyes as he tried to regain his sense of self, drawing upon the cool touch of Stiles’s hand on his arm, “Sorry. I had a fight with my family. I… I didn’t know where else to go.” 

Stiles nodded as if he understood everything Derek was talking about, turning to lead him towards the living room. He gently ushered Derek into a seat on his sofa as he moved towards the kitchen. He returned only a few seconds later with a glass of water in his hand, gently handing it off to Derek. Derek gave him a small, spoken thanks as he sipped the water. 

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Stiles asked, sitting next to Derek on the couch. He sat with his back against one of the arms and his knees brought to his chest. 

Derek glanced over at him before he buried his eyes in his glass of water. He stayed silent for a few seconds as he tried to find the right words to say, “My mom… she’s always been paranoid, ever since my dad died,” he started, “My family used to be so tight knit and carefree. We could do… anything we wanted. Then, my dad died, and things changed.” 

Derek looked over at Stiles again and saw that he was listening intensely, staring into the side of Derek’s face.

“My mom started to not want anyone around the house that she didn’t know, and that circle was small. Smaller than you’d imagine. It took everything for her to… accept my friends. I thought I made good progress with Isaac, but she never lost that paranoia. Now it’s… now I don’t agree with it. So, I told her that… and we had an argument. My friends they… they’re part of it. So, I had nowhere else to go but here or the streets.”

Stiles nodded silently, allowing Derek silence to continue. Instead, Derek met eyes with Stiles, giving him space to respond if he wanted to.

“I can kind of understand where your mom is coming from…” Stiles said sadly, “When my mom died, I started monitoring what my dad eats a lot more. He’s getting older and his diet wasn’t the best… lots of grease and all, and I didn’t want to lose him too early too.”

“He has a good heart.” Derek said instinctually before he followed it up with more, “I’m sure he does, at least. No way any 50 year old can be the sheriff without the health to back it up.” 

Stiles smiled at that, playing with the ankles of his sweatpants, “The doctors say he’s doing fine, which I take full responsibility for, by the way. I’m the one who made sure he’d take care of himself.”

Derek smiled back, allowing a small moment of silence to fall over them. Stiles was the one to break it.

“Was your dad… killed?” he asked shakily. As if he were uncertain as to whether or not he should ask the question or not.

Derek was taken back by it, but he answered nonetheless, “Yes.”

Stiles nodded, pulling at his pants more aggressively, “My dad told me… he said that they could never figure out who it was. I’m sorry that happened.”

Derek wanted so badly to just shift in that moment. He wanted to tell Stiles everything about him, about what he is and what he did. He wanted to tell him about the Argents and how his family is trying to make them move across the nation because of them. About how his dad was an amazing father, and that it was Derek’s fault that he was dead. But, instead, he just opted for “Yeah. It’s okay, I’ll be okay” as he lowered his head.

There was another moment of silence between them. Derek didn’t really know what else to say, he had too many secrets to keep. Stiles probably felt guilty for talking about his dad, but Derek wanted to tell him. He just wanted to tell him the whole story.

The silence was interrupted by Stiles once again, but this time it was his movements. Derek noticed him moving up onto his knees, and as Derek turned to see what he was doing, he felt Stiles’s arms wrap around his neck as he was pulled into a hug. His chin found cushion in Stiles’s shoulder as he leaned forward awkwardly. The height difference between them due to this position was weird to handle, but Derek felt himself almost collapse into the hug anyway. His arms found their way around Stiles’s waist, pulling him closer as he buried his head into Stiles’s shoulder. He felt Stiles’s hand on head, slowly stroking his hair as his other hand rubbed his back.

“It’ll be okay, Der,” Stiles said softly, “You can stay here all night if you need to.” 

Derek nodded into his shoulder as he silently held Stiles for as long as he could.

* * *

After they parted, Stiles informed Derek that he was in the middle of cramming his homework of the week in before he’d arrived. Derek promised he wouldn’t bother him, and that was how he ended up in Stiles’s room laying on his bed with a comic book in his hands.

“What is this?” Derek asked, staring at the cover in confusion.

“I thought you might need something to take your mind off of everything else… and I want to see if you like Batman,” Stiles said with a grin as he turned in his computer chair and opened up some website that detailed Greek mythology. 

Derek sighed, pulling out his phone and noticing seven missed calls from Laura, too many texts to count from Isaac and Erica but only two from Boyd, and a long text from his uncle. He didn’t respond to any of them, laying his phone down on Stiles’s bedside table. Derek lied down with the flimsy book in his hands, analyzing the cover. It looked old, at least. It was yellow, with  _ BATMAN _ written in large lettering. From the top left corner, he could see that it looked to be the first issue. He wondered just how expansive Stiles’s collection was. He glanced at Stiles, noticing that he was sneakily looking back at him to see if he was going to read the comic. With reluctance, he opened the comic book and began reading the first page.

* * *

He was on the 35th issue of a new series by the time Stiles finished his work. After reading the first issue of  _ Batman _ he hadn’t been too interested in the old art style, but Stiles assured him that he had another solution and pulled out a new series titled  _ Rebirth. _

“It reimagines the entire universe and basically starts everything over but with up-to-date art!” Stiles promised him.

It didn’t take long for Derek to fall in love with one of the main characters of the series, Batgirl. There was something about her tragic story that drew him into her character. He’d broken his promise to Stiles by asking him a million questions about her, which he patiently answered with underlying excitement over Derek’s interest. 

Stiles, sadly, didn’t own Batgirl’s stand-alone series but he promised Derek he would purchase a few issues just for him to read, which made Derek smile. 

Stiles pushed away from his desk with a relieved sigh, looking back at Derek, “I’m finally finished,” he announced.

Derek glanced over corner of the comic book and nodded silently before going back to reading.

“Wait, wait, wait. You are not ignoring me for  _ my _ comic books, Derek Hale.” 

Derek glared at him, “There’s only a few pages left.” 

Stiles sighed, moving his chair over to the bed with a dramatic sigh, “What part are you at?” he asked.

Derek’s lips turned up at that question, knowing Stiles couldn’t help himself, “Catwoman just stabbed Talia in the shoulder,” Derek said, “You know that’s my mom’s name?”

“Catwoman?”

Derek punched him in the arm, making Stiles laugh. Stiles leaned over Derek’s shoulder to look at the page himself. Derek noticed how awkwardly he had to lean over, so he moved himself over closer to the wall and patted the space next to him so that Stiles could sit down. Stiles took the opportunity without hesitation, settling himself down next to Derek so that he could read the page. 

“Selina Kyle is so badass,” Stiles said.

Derek nodded, “She’s really cool. I like that she’s more anti-hero rather than a plain villain. It gives her layers.”

Stiles laughed quietly, “It’s so weird hearing you use those terms.” 

Derek shrugged, turning the page after silently asking Stiles if he’d finished it, “I’m not against literature or anything, I just never thought superheroes were interesting. But… they’re pretty cool.” 

Stiles smiled without saying another word, but Derek felt the way he leaned over and pressed their shoulders together a bit more. 

They were both interrupted this time by his phone vibrating on Stiles’s bedside table, signifying a call. Derek sighed while Stiles reached over and attempted to hand the phone to Derek, to which he shook his head.

“I don’t want to answer them.”

“Come on, Der, you have to at least let them know you’re alive and well…” Stiles chided, turning the phone over, “It’s just Isaac.”

Derek looked over at the phone and clenched his jaw, shaking his head again. Stiles sighed and with a look of hesitation, slid his thumb over the screen and answered the phone. 

“Hi, Isaac, it’s Stiles. Derek’s at my place, he’s ok.”

Derek could hear the voice on the other line, and it was definitely  _ not _ Isaac.

“Stiles?” his mother’s voice rang out, struck with concern, “This is Talia Hale. I’m Derek’s mother.”

Stiles turned to Derek with wide eyes and swallowed nervously, “O-Oh! Hi, Ms. Hale, I’m Stiles Stilinski. I’m the Sheriff’s son.”

“I’m sorry we can’t meet on better terms, Stiles. Is Derek there with you right now?” 

Derek sighed, holding his phone out with his hand. Stiles immediately took the opportunity and handed over the phone hastily. Derek held the phone up to his ear as he closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall.

“Yes. mom?” he asked quietly.

“Derek!” his mother’s voice came out in a rush of relief. Of course she’d thought something may have happened to him, everyone probably had the same idea. But, he was so tired of that. He was so tired of everyone having to be  _ scared _ .

“I’m fine.”

“You need to come home, Derek. I know that this is hard. I know. But-”

“I’m not having this conversation again,” Derek interrupted her, “Please, just tell everyone to leave me alone for a little.”

He heard Talia sigh sadly on the other side of the line, “I don’t want you to feel the pain I felt, Derek.”

“I’ve been feeling that pain every day of my life since Dad died. You’re not the only one that it affected, but you forced your mentality on the rest of us because of it. Just… let me have my own thoughts,” Derek said before he hung up, dropping the phone on the bed. Stiles looked at him with guilt ridden eyes. 

“Sorry, I didn’t think-”

Derek put his hand on Stiles’s shoulder to shut him up, meeting his eyes, “It’s not your fault. You had good intentions.”

It made Stiles smile.

They settled back next to each other, shoulder to shoulder as they finished the comic book together. After it was over, Derek put down the book almost sadly. Stiles however, had a small grin on his face as he picked up his own cell phone.

“Wanna order pizza?” 

Derek smirked as he stood up from the bed to place the comic back in its original place, 

 

“I would love to.”


	7. Don't Touch Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek learns a lot about Stiles from someone who isn't Stiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I accidentally posted this while trying to edit it last night, so sorry about that email if you saw it! ;-; Anyway, I put a lot of love into this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it.

Derek and Stiles ended up finding themselves sitting on the couch with two large pizzas, one pepperoni and the other supreme, with a superhero movie on. Apparently, it was one of the  _Avengers_ movies, and Derek was entirely confused.

“Where’s Batman?” he asked.

“He’s not in this, they’re from different universes,” Stiles explained

“Different universes?”

“Yeah, Batman is part of DC and the Avengers are Marvel.”

“But why can’t they crossover?”

“Because they’re telling different stories!”

“I think Batman would be a good avenger.”

“He has the Justice League, buddy.”

“He can do both.”

Stiles laughed, motioning for Derek to look at the screen, “Maybe you’ll find another hero that you like in Marvel.”

Derek took an angry bite of his pizza, “I like DC more.”

“You haven’t even given them a chance yet!”

“I’ve already been won over.”

“Just watch the movie, Derek.”

“Fine.”

So they did, and Derek continued to argue that Batman reigned supreme over any of the avengers, though he silently liked Scarlet Witch more than he would admit.

* * *

“Do you want to stay overnight?” Stiles asked the question suddenly while they were putting their leftovers away.

Derek looked over at him in surprise, “Your dad would be okay with that?”

Stiles nodded as if he were questioning himself, “I mean, I’m sure he would be. I just don’t want you to have to go home if you’re going to be miserable there, that’s all.”

Derek frowned as he thought about it. His mother would probably be waiting for him at home, as would the rest of his family. He wondered what they would do if he never showed up there. He wondered if they were already packed and waiting for him to come home so that they could leave for New York. He sighed.

“I’d really like that, if I could.”

Stiles smiled with what looked like relief. He closed his fridge and motioned for Derek to follow him upstairs.

“I don’t have a guest bedroom, so if you’re okay sleeping on an air mattress, I do have that.”

Derek nodded silently as Stiles pulled one out of a closet near his bathroom along with a few blankets. They headed back into Stiles’s room and Stiles took the time to move some stuff out of the way in order to make room to place the air mattress down. He rolled it out himself, and plugged it into an outlet that previously held his phone charger before turning it on. Derek sat on Stiles’s bed as the loud sound from the bed filling up took over any chance of there being empty silence.

Derek took the chance to grab his phone and text Isaac.

_D: Tell everyone I won’t be home tonight._

Isaac texted back immediately.

_I: You’re still with Stiles, right?_

_D: Yes._

_I: Ok. Be safe. Everyone’s staying here tonight._

Derek didn’t respond after that. Instead, he turned his phone off completely. Stiles looked up at him as he turned off the air mattress before he waved his hands in a magical  _“Ta-Dah!_ ” gesture. Derek smiled at him as he got up from the bed before gently laying down on the air mattress.

“Comfy,” he said.

“Liar,” Stiles responded with a laugh.

Stiles laid down on his own bed, with his face towards the ceiling, “It’s so weird having you here,” he said, “I haven’t had anyone over since Scott and I became friends… and he was the first person I had come over at all.”

Derek scoffed quietly, “I know the feeling.”

Stiles sighed, rolling over on his side, “I’m glad we became friends.”

Derek rolled over on his side so he could see Stiles more easily. The dotted boy had a bit of crimson rising on his cheeks as he refused to meet Derek’s eyes.

“Me too, Stiles.”

Stiles shyly smiled then before he stood up out of his bed and started to make his way out of the room, “Gotta use the bathroom,” he explained before leaving.

Derek took the opportunity to stand up and pull his shirt and pants off, not wanting to sleep in jeans but knowing that Stiles couldn’t possibly have clothes that would fit him. He pulled one of the blankets over his bottom half as he sat on the air mattress just as Stiles came back to the room.

Stiles looked over at him, and his eyes went wide for a second before he quickly tried to cover it up by acting nonchalant. Derek was confused when he felt the faint tinge of attraction wafting off of Stiles.

 _There’s no way Stiles is into guys too… especially not me? Not after what he said to his dad…_ Derek thought to himself as he tried not to get his hopes up.

Stiles moved back to his bed, laying down on it before he reached over to turn off the light on his bedside table.

“Goodnight, Derek,” Stiles said, shuffling himself underneath his blanket as Derek did the same.

“Goodnight, Stiles.”

* * *

Derek woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of Stiles crying. At first, he was confused. He slowly rolled over, trying to get a look at Stiles, but was only able to get a small glimpse of his face illuminated by moonlight. He could hear him whimpering and mumbling something.

_Is he having a nightmare?_

Derek slowly sat up, getting closer to Stiles so that he could assess the situation. Derek could hear him softly muttering, “Mom” multiple times. It broke Derek’s heart.

Quietly, he moved forward and slowly placed his hand on Stiles’s head, stroking his hair as he had done for Derek when he was in a panic. Derek gently brushed his hair back, silently asking him to calm down. Stiles sniffled before his eyes started to open. Derek could see that they were full of tears.

“Mom…” Stiles quietly whimpered, probably still half asleep.

Derek made a small humming noise, just so that Stiles knew he was there and listening as he continued to stroke his hair.

Stiles closed his eyes again after that, seemingly going back to sleep. Derek slowly raised his hand from Stiles’s hair, planning to go back to his own sleep, but Stiles reached up to grab his hand.

“Don’t go home…” he pleaded quietly, as if he were a scared little boy who was scared of the monster under his bed.

“I’m not, Stiles,” Derek whispered.

“Stay…” Stiles gently pulled at Derek’s hand, almost commanding him to get in bed with him.

Derek couldn’t say no. The taller boy nodded quietly, slowly standing up with his arm still in Stiles’s hand as he gently got into bed with the dotted boy. Stiles only let go of him when he felt Derek’s shoulder against his back.

“Mom… woulda liked you...” Derek heard Stiles whisper, before the boy started to quietly snore again.

Derek sighed, staring at the ceiling and imagining the sky behind it.

“My dad would have liked you too.”

* * *

Derek woke up with his arms around Stiles, cradling him to his chest. He must have moved on his accord in his sleep. He could feel Stiles’s thin abdomen under his palm and his other arm laid under his neck. But, worst of all, he could feel his hard cock buried against Stiles’s ass. It wasn’t his fault! This happened to  _every_ guy in the morning. He ignored his burning curiosity in finding out if Stiles had the same problem. Just as he was about to save himself the awkwardness of waking up this way with Stiles and pull away from him, he heard footsteps coming towards the door. Derek knew it must be the sheriff, but the stairs downstairs were right in front of Stiles’s room so he assumed that the older man would be heading downstairs for breakfast or something of the sort. In order to not make noise, Derek stayed where he was. What a bad idea that was.

The door opened slowly with the sheriff peeking in. Derek immediately closed his eyes and pretended he was asleep in order to avoid any sort of exchange with him. He heard the swallowed gasp that Noah almost let out, and the immediate smell of discomfort hit his nose.

There was a slight pause as Derek assumed the sheriff was getting his bearings before the footsteps got closer and he heard Noah whisper, “Stiles.”

At first there was no response, then Noah repeated himself and Stiles let out a small groan of annoyance in response. Again, Noah spoke Stiles’s name, eliciting another groan and a very upset, “  **What.”**

Derek heard Noah scoff, “Forget to set your alarm for school, bud?”

Stiles gasped, his body moving to shoot up but being held down by Derek’s arms. Derek hated the way his hips pressed back against his in his attempt to move forward.

“Oh, shit,” Stiles said in awe as Derek felt him look back at his “sleeping” face.

“Language, Stiles. And yes, we will be having a talk about this later,” the sheriff said as Derek heard him start to move out of the room, “Good morning, by the way, Derek.”

Derek choked on his own breath before he let out a strangled, “Good morning, sir.”

Noah grunted in response before Derek heard the door close behind him.

There was an awkward silence between them before Stiles opened his mouth, “Uh…” Derek put his hand over his mouth to interrupt him.

“Sh…” he said quietly, waiting patiently until he heard the sheriff’s footsteps move from the door and down the steps. Derek pulled his hand away from Stiles’s mouth before explaining, “Your dad was eavesdropping.”

Stiles scoffed in surprise, “How would you know?” he asked.

“He has loud footsteps.”

“It’s his shoes,” Stiles explained casually, seemingly forgetting that Derek was still holding him close to his chest. Derek took the initiative in slowly pulling away.

“Sorry, I must have moved in my sleep,” Derek shyly explained.

“All the way from your bed to mine?” Stiles teased, turning over so that they faced each other. He lifted his head onto his bent arm to hold himself up.

“You were having a nightmare, you asked me to stay,” Derek said pointedly, looking up at Stiles. Stiles looked shocked, his face reddening as his eyebrows pinched together in confusion.

“I didn’t wake up though.”

“You calmed down in the middle of it, but you were awake enough to ask me to stay here with you.”

“I calmed down?” Stiles’s voice was filled with awe.

“Yeah?” Derek said questioningly, wondering what the big deal was.

“I’ve never calmed down in the middle of a nightmare… I always wake up screaming and end up losing sleep for the night. That’s… how did you…?”

Derek shrugged, the tips of his ears reddening as he tried to explain, “I just did what you asked me and you calmed down. You told me not to go home and to stay with you.”

Stiles frowned as he tried to think back to the night before, his index finger tapping against his head, “Well, I’m glad. I could tell it you went home it was gonna be a problem. I have really good intuition, you know.”

Derek tilted his head, “You have good intuition all of a sudden?”

Stiles scoffed, “What, you don’t believe me? I have great intuition dude. I’m practically psychic.”

“Great intuition, but obsessed with Lydia Martin,” Derek teased, immediately feeling guilty at the wince that Stiles gave in return.

“Maybe I see better in her than what she acts like.”

“Well, I wish you all the luck in pulling that out of her. If she ever lets you share the same air as her.”

Stiles sighed, standing up out of bed and grabbing his phone without responding to Derek. Derek watched as his eyes went wide with shock and he looked back at the muscular boy with panic, “It’s eight already! We’re gonna be late, fuck!”

Derek laughed a little as he scooted himself towards the edge of the bed, “You’ve never been late before?” he asked, standing up. Luckily his morning wood had died by this point, but he was still in his boxer briefs. He noticed how Stiles looked him from his feet up, and the way his face reddened afterwards.

“Not in high school! Ugh, I was going so strong.”

Derek patted Stiles on the head before he pulled his old shirt on, “Well, I think I’ll skip today. I don’t feel like seeing my friends again, and there’s no tests today so who cares?”

Stiles stared at Derek, horrified, “You can just  _do_ that?! You just choose when to not go to school even when you’re not sick?”

Derek looked back at him as he put one leg inside his jeans, “I mean, yeah? I have to drive all the way home for a new pair of clothes anyway, I might as well just not go. Trust me, absences don’t hurt you that much.”

Stiles looked pensive, eyes darting between Derek and his bookbag, “What if… what if I skipped too?”

“Why would you? Isn’t your record precious to you?” Derek asked, confused. He grabbed his phone, still shut down, and stuffed it in his backpack as he waited for Stiles to answer.

“Well, yeah, but…” Stiles met Derek’s eyes as his cheeks turned red and he looked away, “I just think it would be fun if we did something instead. I already finished my work for the week anyway, all I’d be doing is reading comic books all day.”

The corner of Derek’s lips quirked up before he shrugged, “I mean, if you’re sure, then you’re more than welcome to join me.”

Stiles sighed as he switched his shirt out for a clean one, “You’re a bad influence, Derek Hale.”

“You made this decision without any coaxing from me whatsoever.”

“You definitely coaxed me into it.”

“How?!”

“You know.”

“Stiles.”

“You know.”

“Shut up.”

Stiles looked at him with a small, victorious grin on his face. Derek just waved him off as he told him he had to use the bathroom before they headed out.

* * *

Derek and Stiles both made their way downstairs under the guise that they were heading to school, with their backpacks slung over their back. The sheriff looked at them with a raised brow.

“You two don’t look like you’re in any rush.”

“We’re already late so no harm in being a little bit more late, right?” Stiles responded, nudging Derek towards the door.

“Yeah, yeah. We have a conversation waiting when you get home, Stiles!” Noah called after him before his phone rang.

“Can’t hear you!” Stiles called back as he pushed Derek out of the door and towards his jeep.

“I can drive myself, Stiles,” Derek said shaking his head but opening the passenger door anyway.

“You’ve never been in my jeep before, Derek, this is a  _special_ moment! Skipping school for the first time… having someone other than Scott in my jeep for the first time… lots of firsts today.”

“There’s more?” Derek asked, looking over as Stiles turned beet red.

“Nope! No more. Two’s a lot, right? Two’s a crowd and all that. Yeah.”

“It’s ‘three’s a crowd’, Stiles.”

They were interrupted by Noah bursting out of the front door cursing and waving at them. Stiles’s eyes went wide with surprise before he started backing up immediately.

“Sorry, dad! In a hurry!” He exclaimed out the window.

Derek scoffed, extremely confused as he heard Noah yelling at them to stop. He specifically heard his name but Stiles sped away before he could inquire about what he wanted.

“You don’t think he had something important to say?” Derek asked, looking back towards the house.

“Dude, he just wanted to grill you for being over without his permission again. I didn’t need that.”

“I guess…”

Something about it didn’t sit right in his gut. The sheriff looked genuinely upset and trying to get his attention for something. But there was no use worrying over it, if it were that important then he would tell him when he had time to.

“You know what I want to do?” Stiles said, turning his head towards Derek with a smirk on his face. Derek just gave him a questioning look.

“I want to see you play  _video games._ To the arcade!”

* * *

The arcade was in an area Derek had never properly explored before. He remembers passing it a few times, but never looked inside. It wasn’t that big, and the sign that read  _The Future’s Past Arcade_ looked like it had lost two of its hinges, but Stiles looked at it with a huge smile on his face.

“My mom used to bring me here if I got an A on a test,” Stiles said, the smile never leaving his face. He looked at Derek with proud eyes, “I was a straight A student.”

Derek smiled back at him, “I had a feeling.”

Stiles led him inside, pulling open the single glass door to enter into a loud room of flashing lights. Derek was stunned by the amount of machines that fit inside this space. From the outside, it looked like this place was rundown at best, but it looked like it had everything a kid could ask for. Stiles was already walking towards the front counter that had plenty of toys and trinkets behind it along with a lone, older man. He looked like he was in his seventies, with a bald head and long beard. He wore big, round glasses and a white vest colored with blue stripes over a white button up.

“Hey, Carl!” Stiles exclaimed as he held up his hand in a wave. The old man was smiling widely at him as he approached. Derek could see that he was missing a few teeth.

“Stiles! It’s been so long, my boy, how have you been?” The older man, Carl, responded in glee as he walked around the counter with his arms up.

“Oh, you know, the usual… too busy getting an education to rot my brain with these games,” Stiles wrapped his arms around Carl and squeezed him tightly.

When they pulled away, Carl gave him a suspicious glare, “Is that your excuse? Shouldn’t you be at school right now?”

By this point, Derek had stopped looking around the area in awe and followed Stiles’s steps to the counter. He stood behind Stiles as the boy laughed at Carl’s remark.

“The electricity went out yesterday so they’re fixing it today! No school for us in the meantime!”

Carl nodded with a suspicious hum but turned his attention to Derek instead of responding, “And who is this? You don’t have Scott with you?”

“Scott is too busy doting over the new girl to spend time with me. This is Derek,” Stiles stepped out of the way as he waved his hand in front of Derek’s body to introduce him. The older boy stuck out his hand to shake Carl’s hand.

“It’s nice to meet you. I didn’t know that Stiles’s uncle owned an arcade?” Derek looked between them, trying to find some resemblance.

“Oh!” Carl started to laugh as Stiles put his hand on Derek’s arm as he shook his head. Derek looked at him confused before Carl put his hand in his and began to shake vigorously, “I’m not his ‘real’ uncle, but his mother and I became close friends after she started bringing him here all the time. You could say we became almost like family.”

Derek nodded at him, giving him a small smile as he pulled his hand way, “Sometimes those connections mean even more than sharing blood.”

Carl nodded silently, his eyes filling with sadness before he blinked it away and moved behind the counter once again. He crouched down and after a bit of hassle, he pulled out a small bowl of tokens.

“Here you boys go. Today, but only today, it’s ‘all-you-can-play.’”

Derek looked at the bowl in surprise while Stiles picked up a small handful of tokens. Stiles looked at Carl with a grateful smile.

“Thanks, Carl.”

Then, he lead Derek into the maze of game machines.

* * *

From the looks of it, the arcade must be dedicated to retro games from the past more than anything from the present. Stiles leads Derek past games like  _Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders,_ and  _Galaxian._ He finally stopped on a machine that had room for two players and a title that read  _Super Street Fighter II_. Derek watched as Stiles put in two tokens, then looked at Derek expectantly.

“What game is this?” Derek asked as he slowly stepped up, wrapping one hand around the joystick.

Stiles gaped at him, “It’s Street Fighter! C’mon, you have to know Street Fighter, Derek.”

Derek just shook his head silently as he tried to follow the flashing images on the screen. It looked like they were on a screen to pick a character? Maybe Street Fighter meant that it was a fighting game.

“Have you never played a video game before in your life?” Stiles asked, throwing the joystick around in a circle before tapping one of the buttons. When Stiles pressed the button, a character flashed onto the screen named “Cammy.”

“Never thought they looked interesting,” Derek explained, gently pushing the joystick in a direction and watching as his cursor sprinted across multiple characters.

“Never thought they looked interesting…” Stiles repeated with awe, “I’m gonna kick your ass just for saying that.”

Derek looked at him with a confused grin, wondering if Stiles seriously thought he could take him in a fight. As he was about to respond when he heard the game make a sound. Derek turned his attention back onto the game and noticed it had picked a character for him, apparently named “Vega.”

Derek barely had time to take in what was happening before the game announced that it was “Round One” and Stiles was pressing buttons like a madman. Derek felt like the buttons were definitely much louder than they needed to be, but Stiles mashed them like they were a lifeline.

Derek, not knowing what to do, just responded by pressing buttons randomly. He wasn’t even watching the screen as he tried to figure out which button worked when he saw Stiles raise his hands in victory in his peripherals.

Derek looked back at the screen as his eyebrows pinched together in confusion and a bit of frustration, “I didn’t even get a chance to learn yet.”

Stiles shrugged, patting his shoulder, “I told you I was gonna kick your ass.”

Derek glared at him directly, “You only have a chance on a screen, Stiles.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Stiles looked back at the screen before he started mashing buttons again, yelling over the sound he was making, “Now start pressing buttons! I want some competition!”

Derek growled under his breath as he started mashing buttons the same way as Stiles while wildly throwing his joystick in random directions. In the end, there still wasn’t a competition.

Derek was frustrated. It was just a game, but he hated losing anything.

“Again,” he demanded.

Stiles giggled to himself as he put in another two tokens. He looked over at Derek with a small smile on his face before he moved over to him.

“First you have to pick a character you like,” Stiles explained, pointing at the screen.

“Does it matter?” Derek asked with a huff of annoyance, moving the joystick around in circles.

“They all do different moves, so yes it does! Pick whichever one you think is coo-”

Derek interrupted him by just pressing a button and selecting whatever he landed on. Apparently, that person was “Dhalsim.”

Stiles nodded to himself as he moved back over, picking Chun-Li. When they loaded into the game, Derek immediately started pressing random buttons again. It didn’t accomplish anything as Stiles just stood out of range of his attacks.

Stiles laughed to himself, causing Derek to get even more annoyed as he embarrassed himself in front of the dotted boy. After a few more moments of entertainment from Derek’s flailing, Stiles moved over and gently pushed Derek out of the way. Derek looked at him, confused but still moved out of the way for him.

“Here, watch me,” Stiles said, looking up at Derek before back to the screen. Afterwards, he started explaining multiple fighting game mechanics. Derek drank the knowledge in the best he could. As Stiles taught him, Derek didn’t notice that he was getting closer to the boy so that he could see over his shoulder and to the buttons. From this position, he was almost pressed directly against Stiles’s back. However, he didn’t want a repeat of this morning happening in the arcade.

After Stiles finally finished his lecture, he moved back to his own side of the arcade machine, putting his hands on the controls before motioning for Derek to do the same. Derek took a deep breath as he refreshed his memory as to what he should do. Then, as soon as he noticed Stiles move the joystick somewhat, Derek unleashed hell.

* * *

It turns out that Derek is actually good at video games once he learns the controls. Very good. Thanks to his wolf reflexes, it’s hard for him to fall behind in anything. He plays  _Pac-Man_ for thirty levels before he lets himself die, explaining that it’s not getting any harder anymore. Stiles gets angry because he can’t beat level seventeen.

Eventually, they run out of tokens to use and Stiles asks Derek to go and retrieve another handful so that they can play some zombie shooting game together. Derek obeys, walking back to the counter that they’d first got their tokens. Carl sits behind it with a small smile on his face.

“Already ran out?” he asks.

Derek smiles at him, “Stiles couldn’t give up until he beat level sixteen in  _Pac-Man_ and then he quit anyway,” he explains before gently picking up another handful of tokens from the bowl Carl left out for them.

Carl’s voice stops him as he’s about to make his way back to Stiles, “Stiles is a good boy,” he says suddenly.

Derek stops to look at him, giving him a nod in response, “He is. I’m glad I’ve been able to be friends with him.”

Carl smirks, “‘Friends’... is that what you’re calling it?”

Derek feigns confusion as he crosses his arms awkwardly, “What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, nothing. I can read a room, that’s all.”

“And what does this room say?”

“That you’re two teenage boys who are too busy pretending not to have feelings for each other to notice that the other person has feelings for  _you.”_

Derek scoffs, his cheeks reddening at the statement, “Stiles does not feel anything for me. He told his dad that.”

“Stiles keeps a lot of things to himself,” Carl says, looking past the machines at Stiles. The geek was currently giving  _Ms. Pac-Man_ a try since the male version didn’t work out. Carl looks back to Derek before speaking again, “I don’t know what’s going to happen to you two that he felt the need to bring you here, but I hope you treat him well either way.”

Derek frowns with confusion, “What do you mean for him to bring me here?”

Carl frowns as well, looking down to the floor, “Stiles only comes here when something wrong is about to happen and he wants to escape before it does. If he brought you here, it’s because he senses something coming, and he’s scared.”

“His amazing intuition?” Derek scoffed, meaning it as a joke, but Carl nodded solemnly, taking a moment of silence before responding.

“When Claudia, his mother, became sick… they stopped coming here. She couldn’t bring him, and his father was too busy taking care of her to try and give his son a good time at the arcade. Eventually though, he showed up here by himself. Imagine my face when a little twelve year old Stiles showed up all by himself, asking for some tokens?” Carl laughed at the memory, looking back up to meet Derek’s eyes.

He took a quiet breath, then he continued, “I gave him some and he played for hours. Eventually, I had to ask him where his dad was. ‘He’s taking care of mom,’ he said. I asked how he got here, ‘just walked’ he said, like it was the most normal thing in the world. But, when I asked  _why_ he came here,” Carl let out a breath, as if he had a weight on his back that he was slowly pushing off, “He told me that his mom wasn’t going to last through the night. I asked how he knew, if the doctors told him that, maybe. He just said… that he could feel it coming. That he  _knew_ that his mother was going to die that night. So he came here... because he only felt happy here. Noah, his father, called me the next morning. Claudia’s heart had stopped in her sleep. Stiles didn’t come back for awhile after that. He only comes back in here to play when he feels something distressing is coming. Something he can’t feel good about predicting.”

Derek swallowed roughly, staring at the older man as he explained Stiles’s ‘ability.’ It was hard to listen to. Should he even listen to him? He was an old man, probably senile, and was going on an entire tangent about things that just seemed so unreasonable.

“But, whatever it is,” Carl continued with a smile appearing on his face, “It must mean that you’re another part of what makes him happy enough to forget about it for a few hours. So, go give him a good time.”

“Why did you…” Derek cleared his throat, “Why did you tell me all of that?” Derek asked, confused.

“Because you’re going to be very special to him. Even I can predict that,” Carl said, “When he tells you, I want you to believe him. At least after the initial shock of a crazy old man springing it on you, maybe you’ll accept it from him.”

Derek nodded, looking down at the tokens in his hand before taking a deep breath and walking back to Stiles. Stiles was currently in a fit of annoyance as he had just lost on level seventeen. Even in  _Ms Pac-Man_ he couldn’t go any higher.

Stiles looked up at him and when he met eyes with Derek, his annoyed expression softened.

“That took awhile for a handful of tokens,” Stiles commented, taking a few coins from Derek’s hand.

“I didn’t want to interrupt Carl from talking so I just let him ramble,” Derek explained, not wanting to tell Stiles about everything Carl had said about him.

“Ah, yeah, he does that sometimes. I feel bad not showing up as much to give him someone to talk to but… school and all.” Stiles pressed his lips into a thin line as he looked over the machines towards Carl before he sighed, turned around and started making his way deeper into the arcade.

Derek followed behind him, thinking about the old man’s words. If Stiles had a feeling something was coming, he couldn’t help but wonder what it was. He hoped it had nothing to do with the sheriff. However if Stiles brought him here, it must not be so important that he wanted to prevent it or spend extra time with anyone. Derek took a deep breath and decided he would just enjoy this time with Stiles and do what Carl said by attempting to make it a good day for the dotted boy.

As Stiles continued to walk through the maze of machines, Derek caught sight of a claw machine game in the corner of the arcade. Inside there was an array of plushies to win. Derek grabbed Stiles’s wrist and pulled him towards the machine, eliciting a choked gasp of surprise from the younger boy.

“Hey! I said we were gonna play  _The_   _House of the Dead!_ ” Stiles complained as he was pulled along.

“We can do that next, I want to play this one,” Derek reassured him as they stopped in front of the claw machine.

Stiles looked at it in confusion before looking back up to Derek, “You want to play the claw machine? You know these things are rigged, right?”

Derek looked at him and raised his eyebrow as he inserted a token, causing Stiles to scoff and teasingly wish him luck.

Derek focused on the machine, looking at all the plushies inside to figure out which one would be best for Stiles. After analyzing them all, he saw one in the corner that might have just been perfect. An angry looking grey wolf sitting on perched in guard mode sat patiently waiting for Derek to just scoop him up.

Derek moved the claw with precision. Slowly, he pressed the joystick to its limit before stopping it right above the wolf. He glanced at Stiles who watched the procedure with skepticism before he smirked, moving the claw just a few more jerks to the right before pressing down the button.

Stiles let out a gasp, “Dude! It was right abo-”

Derek put up his hand to interrupt him as the claw slowly moved downwards, wrapping itself around the wolf. When it tightened its grip, it almost looked perfect, but the wolf slowly began to fall out of the steel grasp. Stiles quietly groaned in annoyance as he watched the act in anticipation. Derek just smiled however as he watched the claw release the body of the wolf and clasp down on the the tail of the plushie instead, slowly carrying it to the prize area. Stiles’s eyes went wide with surprise and then excitement as he grabbed onto Derek’s arm in celebration.

“You did it!” the lean boy exclaimed, “How did you even know that that was going to happen…”

Derek quietly laughed, putting in another token as he pointed to the controls, “Here, I’ll show you.”

Stiles grabbed onto the joystick hesitantly, looking at all the plushies inside as he slowly started moving the claw around the machine. Derek slid up behind him, boldly wrapping his hand around Stiles’s on the joystick to help him control it. He heard Stiles’s swallow and felt the way he instinctively rested his back against Derek’s chest. Maybe Stiles being attracted to him wasn’t too far out there of an idea…

“Which one do you want?” Derek gruffly asked, trying to keep his emotions inside.

“Uh…” Stiles started, clearing his throat before finishing, “The bunny.”

Derek nodded, taking control of the joystick again as he began positioning the joystick in the perfect position.

“See, the claw is never going to get a good grip when it’s surrounding something. The very points of the claw are the ones that need to meet in order to stop it from opening up again, so you have to try and get it on a small space,” Derek explained, placing the claw near the head of the bunny that Stiles wished for. Stiles nodded along with his advice, following his hand movements without any restraint.

Once Derek felt it was in the right place, he pulled Stiles’s hand off the the joystick and helped him push the button. They both watched as the claw slowly started to lower itself onto the bunny. It wrapped itself around the head, but then it began sliding off. It almost looked like a lost cause until the claw clamped down on one of the plushie’s ears, picking up the white bunny and carrying it to the prize area.

Stiles gasped in happiness, cheering as he pulled away from Derek’s chest, only to turn around and wrap his arms around his neck in a hug. Derek wrapped his arms around Stiles’s waist with a toothy grin, holding him tightly to his body. They both stayed like that for a few seconds before they pulled away in unison, looking into each other’s eyes with red cheeks and big smiles on their faces.

Stiles was the first one to shyly look away and pull away completely from the hug. Derek let his hands drop to his side, and tried not to miss the feeling of Stiles wrapped up in his arms.

Carl’s words had really affected him. If there was anyone that would know Stiles and what he felt, it would be someone like Carl or Scott. If the older man, who had known Stiles since he was a child, believed that Derek was special to him… then Derek felt more empowered to believe him. He started to realize the small things that Stiles did.

Derek noticed how Stiles would look at him when he thought he wasn’t paying attention, and how when Derek stretched his muscles there was a spike of lust in the air. For the past few weeks, he had been in denial. Especially since Stiles had said such things about him to his father… but Derek could ask him about that after all was said and done.

Stiles was crouched down now, grabbing their prizes from machine with glee.

“Is there a particular reason that you wanted a bunny of all things?” Derek asked as Stiles handed him his wolf plushie.

“It reminded me of you,” Stiles explained, holding it up so that it and Derek were looking at each other.

“Me? How?”

“Your bunny teeth, duh!” Stiles laughed, pointing to Derek’s mouth.

“Bunny teeth…” Derek mumbled, bringing his hand up to feel his front teeth.

“Yeah! They’re cute, dude,” Stiles said. There was a moment of silence before he realized what he said and his face turned red all over again. But unlike the awkwardness that he once exuded before, he just shyly smiled at Derek after the statement had made its impact.

Derek brought his hand away, smiling himself, “Thanks, Stiles,” he said.

Their tender moment was interrupted when the glass door slammed open and Carl released a startled yell. They both looked towards the entrance, witnessing a very angry looking Laura Hale standing with her eyes right on them.

“  **You** ** _fucking_  ** **assholes.”**

* * *

Derek turned around to look at Laura as she stomped up to them, completely perplexed as to why she was so angry with them.

He went to say something as she moved towards them, “Laura? What’s your is-”

Before Derek could even finish his sentence, Laura wound her right arm back and launched her fist directly into the left side of his jaw. Derek fell to the floor with the impact, nearly falling into Stiles’s legs. He heard Stiles gasp behind him as he stepped back, causing Derek to stand up in front of him to protect him. He felt like his jaw was broken, but it would heal quick enough.

“Where the  **fuck**  have you been? We have been calling you all fucking night and all fucking day. You didn’t even fucking go to school? Are you fucking insane?” Laura asked, pressing towards them with each question. She looked wildly enraged and Derek could tell she hadn’t slept.

“I told mom that I wanted to be left alone. I turned my phone off,” Derek explained, his voice full of anger. She had no right to be mad at him for needing  _space._

“Yeah, well while you were fucking sulking at your boyfriend’s house not answering your stupid fucking phone  **our**  house was burning down.”

“Wha-”

“Imagine how we fucking felt when we woke up to the smell of smoke filling the house? Then we call you, just trying to make sure that you’re  **safe** and you don’t answer for  _hours._ You don’t even go to school for anyone to  _find_ you. The sheriff didn’t even know where the fuck you two were. You’re  **lucky**  that the sheriff thought of this place.”

“Our house…” Derek said, his eyes wide with shock. The hunters. The Argents. They’d set their house on fire in the middle of the night, and he wasn’t there. Kate Argent was there to kill his family, because of him, but they all almost burned to the ground without him.

“How did… how did you get out?” Derek asked, all of the anger disappearing from his voice and filling with guilt and concern.

“There was fire at every exit, but we used the basement tunnel to funnel ourselves out. We couldn’t save anything. All of our stuff is gone,” Laura explained, still breathing heavily. Derek could tell she wasn’t even trying to calm down. She was completely enraged with him, and she had every right to be.

 _Don’t go home…_ Derek remembered Stiles’s words the night before.

_Do you want to stay overnight?_

_Stiles only comes here when something wrong is about to happen and he wants to escape before it does._

The sound of the sheriff calling out his name as they left… everything stuck in his mind. Stiles knew. He’d known something was coming. He’d known about the fire. He’d known everything. But despite that, he never told Derek.

“You knew…” Derek said, turning around to face Stiles. Stiles looked at him with wide, surprised eyes as he started to back away from him.

“Derek, I-”

The wolf interrupted him, “You knew that something was happening to my family, but you let it happen.”

Stiles looked at him with guilty eyes, his hands clasped around the bunny in his hand.

“You  **didn’t tell me.** My family could be  **dead**  . But you asked me to stay at your house instead of telling me?” Derek asked, pressing towards the dotted boy. He dropped the wolf plushie he’d won to the floor, clenching his fists to make up for the lost space.

“I… I knew no one was going to get hurt… I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t let you…”

“What, Stiles? What is it? You weren’t going to let me save my house? You weren’t going to let me  **know**  that my family needed me? You were just going to pull me away for your own selfish enjoyment?”

“It’s not like that, Derek! There was nothing you would have been able to do!”

“You don’t know that!” Derek yelled ferociously at him.

“Yes I do!” Stiles yelled, returning the same volume.

Laura spoke up from behind them, “Sorry to interrupt whatever the fuck is going on right now, but there’s more than us just losing all of our personal shit.”

Derek turned to look at her, trying to hold his claws back from bursting out as he waited for her to give him even more bad news.

“We can’t find Cora,” Laura said, her voice temporarily losing it’s anger and allowing her vulnerability to show as her eyes filled with concern.

That was all it took for Derek to lose it. He looked back at Stiles with no sign of the friendship they held between them. He looked at the dotted boy with nothing more than utter disgust.

“I’ll find her,” he declared to Laura, before turning to make his way out of the arcade.

Derek was stopped by Stiles’s shaking hand on his arm, holding him tightly he said in a broken voice, “I’m sorry, Derek… I didn’t mean for this to happen…” Derek snatched his arm out of his hand vehemently.

“Don’t touch me,” were his last words to him before he dashed out of the arcade, leaving his sister with the boy who’d lost his trust.

* * *

Derek turned on his phone as he ran towards his home. He really did have a lot of calls from his friends and family. There were a lot of very angry text messages as well, but he would ignore them for now. There was too much to think about. Stiles had betrayed him. He’d given his trust to someone again, and his family had suffered from it  ** _again_  ** **.**  Stiles had made him feel safe and wanted. He thought that he was  _nice_. He thought that he  _cared_. But, in the end, Derek was just nothing more than an enjoyable thing for him to experience. Stiles used him to feel good. He didn’t care that Derek’s family was in danger. He didn’t care that Derek needed to be there with them. He only cared about himself. Derek should have known that no one could ever care about him the way he thought Stiles did.

Derek arrived in the forest with haste, making his way to his home. It wasn’t anything like he pictured it. His house didn’t stand nearly as tall as it used to. The roof was completely gone. The backside of the house was almost completely collapsed. The front of the house was mostly intact, but the wood around it was burnt. It was ugly. It was a reminder of all the mistakes Derek has ever made.

On the broken front porch stood a very unsettled Erica with Isaac standing with a hand on her shoulder. The taller boy looked like he was just barely keeping his brave facade together. Peter stood on the other side of the porch, his arms crossed in front of his chest as he stared directly at Derek. As Derek got closer, Erica shifted from being agitated to angry. Derek saw as she meant to push away from Isaac but was held back by the tall boy.

“Your date end so soon, nephew? Did you even get a kiss goodnight?” Peter teased, a sickeningly disapproving tone apparent in his voice.

Derek looked down to the ground in guilt before angrily responding, “Where are mom and Boyd?” he asked.

“Out there looking for  ** _your_  **little sister,” Erica growled out, “We fucking  ** _called you_  **, Derek. We thought you we-”

 **“I GET IT!”**  Derek yelled back at her, partially shifting as his eyes glowed a bright gold, “I fucked up. I fucking get it. You all are so fucking suffocating  **all the** ** _fucking_  ** **time**  .”

Isaac went to meekly respond, “We’re fami-”

“  **You. Aren’t. Family.”**  Derek growled out each word with fervor. All of the wolves on the porch looked at him in shock. The statement must have hurt Isaac the most. His mouth gaped as tears steadily broke past whatever defense he had. He looked away to hide his face.

Erica finally pushed away from Isaac’s now-weakened grip,“You fucking ass-”

Derek didn’t care to hear it. He ran off into the forest instead. He needed to find Cora, not be berated by his ‘family.’

He was tired. He was betrayed. He was  _guilty_. But on top of that, he was lectured by  _everyone_. By people who  **asked**  to be part of this. They had no fucking right to judge him as constantly as they did; to constantly be insert themselves in his business. His ‘pack’ did nothing but cross boundaries and limits under the guise of ‘caring’ about him. Derek hated it. They couldn’t just  _ignore_ the fact that he smelt angry sometimes, or upset, or that he  _liked_ someone. They couldn’t ever let him deal with anything by himself. The moment he fucked up, they all jumped on him. He wished they would just go back to ignoring him the way they did when he got his father killed. If he were an omega, he would be so much happier.

Derek didn’t know where to look. He couldn’t smell Cora in any direction and he had no idea where his mom and Boyd were searching. The most he could do was run with his senses on high alert in an attempt to catch anything that might be Cora. He was running for what felt like forever before he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. So much of him wanted to ignore it, assuming it was Stiles with some message meant to bring pity out of Derek, but he slowed down to a walk to pull his cell phone out. He glared at the screen as he realized Laura had texted him.

_L: By the river. She’s upstream._

Derek growled, realizing he was running the exact  _opposite_ way of the river. He put his phone back in his pocket before making a mad sprint for the river.

‘The river’ was a body of water than ran just about a mile away from Derek’s home. Derek and Laura had found it once while on a run together, and soon after their entire family had begun using it as their meeting point when they were seperated on full moon runs. Of course Cora would go there if she was separated or lost. The fact that neither Derek nor any of his family thought of that just made him even angrier.

Derek found his way to the river with ease. He’d been there so many times that he didn’t even have to think about where he was going, even in the open ended areas of the forest. Derek soon began travelling upstream in an effort to spot his sister.

“Cora!” he called. When there was no response, he called again. Every few steps he would call for his sister, waiting for her to respond before doing it again.

It took at least fifteen attempts before he heard something back.

“Derek? Derek!” Derek heard his little sister’s voice ring out from ahead and made a dash for the direction.

“Cora! Where are you?”

“I hear you! I’m coming!” Cora yelled back. After a few seconds of sprinting, Derek could finally hear the crunching of leaves ahead of him. He slowed down as he finally caught a trail of Cora and began following it, knowing she would find him the same way.

When he finally saw his sister, he was shocked to find that she was looked so much worse than the other pack members he’d seen. Her hair was tattered and full of ash and some of her clothes were singed. She also had a long burn scar along her right arm.

Derek slid on his knees as soon as he got close to her, wrapping his arms around her smaller frame and held her to his chest as she began to sob.

“I-I didn’t think anyone w-was coming… I thought we... we were supposed to come here if we were separated. Mom said that if we got lost to come to the river! But nobody came!” Cora cried, gripping Derek’s shirt tightly as if he were going to disappear if she let go.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, we didn’t think of it. We were all looking for you but not here. It’s our fault. I’m sorry I wasn’t there, Cora,” Derek profusely apologized. Out of everyone, Cora deserved this the least. She was the baby of the family. She did nothing wrong. She deserved a better life than this.

“I should have went back home, but I didn’t know if it was safe… I’m sorry, Derek. I-Is everyone else… is everyone okay?” Cora asked anxiously.

Derek nodded, “Everyone’s okay. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me to be. I shouldn’t have left home.”

Cora shook her head, pulling away from Derek to look at him in the face with a confused expression, “Why would you want to be home when there was a fire?”

“I just should have been there to help everyone get out. Then maybe you wouldn’t have gotten this scar.”

“Don’t be an idiot, Derek,” Cora said, pulling her arms away to wipe at her tear-stained face, “If you were home, maybe you wouldn’t have been able to get out. Then we all would have lost you.”

“But I could have lost all of  _you_ because I wasn’t there…”

Cora frowned, looking down, “I wouldn’t want everyone to die. I’d want someone to make it out alive.”

Derek sighed, wrapping his arms around his sister again, “Well at least everyone made it out this time. I won’t let it happen again.”

“Are you… are you coming to New York with us now?” Cora asked nervously.

Derek clenched his jaw as he nodded into her shoulder. For some reason, actually saying felt like it would hurt more.

“What about Stiles?” Cora asked.

“He betrayed me. I don’t want to stay for him anymore,” Derek said resolutely.

Cora nodded sadly, “Do you want me to punch him before we leave?”

Derek let out a small laugh, shaking his head, “I’m sure Laura might have when I left him behind.”

Cora frowned, seemingly upset that Laura got the privilege over her. She pulled away again to grab Derek’s hand instead. Derek stood to his feet, looking up to the sky.

“Ready?” he asked, looking down at Cora.

She nodded, then looked to the sky as well. Together, they let out a howl to let their pack know where they were and that they were together.

* * *

None of his pack spoke much to Derek after everything. Even his mother only looked at him with disapproving eyes. He didn’t care. He’d been through enough for one day.

When they all arrived to the river, all of the attention was thankfully on his little sister. Cora hugged their mother with fervor. She wrapped her arms around their mother’s waist as she apologized for getting lost so far away from the pack.

Talia stroked her hair with tears built up in her eyes, shaking her head, “It’s okay, Cora. It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re okay. We’re all glad you’re okay.”

Cora nodded, crying into her waist as she apologized more.

Isaac wouldn’t look at him at all while Erica and Boyd stared daggers into him. His words had obviously been relayed to the entirety of the pack, but it didn’t matter. He would make amends when he was in a better mind state. When they got off his back.

They’d arranged tickets for the next possible flight after they had all met up and texted Laura the details. She assured them she would make the flight. Derek was the only one who drove alone.

Laura ended up showing up after they’d already boarded the plane. She made her way through the aisle without any sense of awkwardness towards her lateness. There was still two seats open next to Derek, considering no one else in the pack wanted to be next to him. He looked out the plane window with chin resting on his hand.

She sat down with a huff, turning towards him. He glanced at her through the corner of his eye and noticed that she was holding his backpack and a familiar wolf plushie.

“You didn’t have to bring those,” Derek gruffly said, looking back out the window.

“They’re yours,” she said simply.

“I don’t want that stuffed animal.”

Laura sighed, dropping the backpack at Derek’s feet and holding the wolf to her own chest, “Fine. I’ll keep him. He’s adorable.”

Derek silently shrugged, not wanting to say any more. The plane took off without much delay after that. He tried to ignore the flight attendant’s shpiel as she went on and on about safety procedures. Then he remembered that there was one thing in his backpack that he was glad to have back: his earbuds. He reached down to the backpack, unzipping the bottom pouch and digging inside to find the cords. He found them with ease, pulling them out and sighing in relief. However, as he went to unwrap them, he found that they were held together by a small green paper. He steadily unwrapped it, finding that the side that faced out was blank, but on the back he found a small message.

“I’ll miss you” was written in Stiles’s handwriting.

Derek frowned as he stared at the message. He didn’t want it to, but it broke something inside of him that he had been trying to keep in tact. Tears slowly began to fall from his eyes as he clenched his jaw, trying to stop them. His throat tightened so much he thought it would twist, but the tears still wouldn’t stop. Laura didn’t say anything as she stared at her lap.

Derek brought his hands to his eyes as he quietly sniffled and let out a heavy breath. It hurt. It hurt that he wanted to see Stiles now. That he’d left him behind. That even though Stiles had selfishly betrayed him,  he wanted to see him. That he wanted to hold him and ask him why he did it to him. Derek wanted to forgive him. Derek wanted him to tell him some excuse that he could believe so that he could accept it without thinking. He wanted to ask why he didn’t tell him that his house would be burnt to the ground. Why he hadn’t tried to stop it. Derek had so many questions that he would never ask the dotted boy.

It hurt.

 

It hurt that he would miss him too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guys, I hope you enjoyed the story! I'm so sad it has to end he- just kidding, just kidding!! There is so much more to unravel between these two. Think of this chapter as more of a beginning to the story than anything else. See you next Thursday. <3


	8. Time's Cruel Passage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and the pack adjust to a new life in New York while Derek tries to forget Stiles. Secrets come out, tensions rise, and tears are shed. Oh, and Derek gets a job as a car mechanic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello! Welcome to a new chapter. I hope you all didn't feel like the wait was too long after the way the last one ended. Well, I hope you enjoy bearing witness to a new, New York sculpted, Derek Hale.

New York wasn’t all that bad to look at. It was snowing when the pack arrived. Derek had never seen snow in person before and was utterly taken aback by it. Despite how miserable he was, he took comfort in the cold embrace of the outside. The way the snow melted against his skin as soon as it touched him. It reminded him of the people he’d met.

* * *

Peter and Talia each ordered them the largest car they could to ride in from the airport to their new home. Derek sat with his head towards the car window the entire time, watching the outside world as it blurred past him. There were so many buildings so close to each other, and all of them were way too tall. He swears he saw _maybe_ two trees the entire ride. Both cars steadily arrived to their new house after a long journey. The house itself was large. It looked larger than their old home, that was for sure. The residence was built on a foundation of stone. Based off of the windows Derek could see from the front of the home, it looked to be three stories tall. The front door was a single door with average height. It was colored a pristine white tone while the outside walls were colored a light beige. 

“How did you get a house this big on such short notice…?” Erica asked Talia in awe.

Talia smiled at her as she walked up to the front door, “I have property all over the nation, and a few in South America should the need ever arise. Most of them have been passed down over generations, and more will be passed as time goes on. They’re our escape routes should anything go wrong, like it has. This one is one I bought, though. Back when Laura was born, I figured I should have a few to pass down once someone else takes the mantle.”

Erica just nodded in silent appreciation as the entire pack slowly pressed inside the house. Derek held his breath as he was the last to walk inside. The house was already big on the outside, but it felt impossibly larger on the inside. The floor was made of marble, colored in black and white with a checkerboard design. The walls inside matched the outside in their beige coloration. There were large cutouts in the walls to their right and left. From what Derek could see, it appeared that there was a living area to the left and a dining room to the right. At the very back of this first room (that was almost entirely empty), there was a spiral staircase leading up to the second floor. The second floor was almost like a balcony. The majority of the floor was cut out, giving anyone downstairs a clear view of the doors upstairs while anyone upstairs could easily see the front door any time that they came out out of any of the rooms. The upstairs had a boundary set around the open area with a wooden railing cutting off anyone upstairs from falling through the floor.

While his fellow betas all looked around the area in amazement and letting out their small whispers of praise, Derek just frowned at his surroundings. He moved forward and started moving up the stairs by himself.

“This doesn’t feel like a home,” he muttered under his breath, knowing his pack could hear him. If they had a problem with it, they didn’t say anything to him about it.

The upstairs of the house was a maze of doors to choose from. Derek honestly didn’t care what door he was stuck with, so he chose the one furthest from the stairs on the right. When he walked in, he found himself in a rather large room that was colored with royal blue walls and a bed with covers that matched. There was a bare brown, wooden desk sitting in one of the corners of the room with a black computer chair pushed in. The room had two sets of doors. Derek checked the single door that was closest to his bed and found out that it was a bathroom all for himself with a shower and bath combination. There was a giant mirror hung horizontally above two sinks. He didn’t understand why one bathroom would need two sinks… but whatever. The other door was actually a set of two doors. Derek pulled them both open and realized that it was a walk in closet. It was quite large, but Derek was sure he’d seen larger in millionaire households.

Derek heard someone come inside his room and peeked his head back out of the closet with a curious glance. He saw his mother there with gentle, hopeful eyes staring back at him. Derek sighed as he pulled himself all the way out of the closet and walked to his bed to sit down, preparing himself for the impending talk he was about to receive.

Talia sat next to him with her hands folded in her lap, she looked over at him with a small smile, “I thought you would pick this room.”

Derek shrugged noncommittally, “I just picked whichever,” he said.

“I had this one furnished for you because I knew you’d pick the one furthest from the stairs,” Talia said, “Then, I figured that you’d pick the one the furthest from the entertainment area since you hate hearing the TV. This was the only option.”

Derek crossed his arms, silently nodding as he agreed with her thought process.

Talia sighed, “I know you’re not happy. I’m sorry, Derek. This was our only option.”

“It was _your_ only option. Because _you’re_ too scared to fight the Argents.”

“You’re no fighter, Derek. Your uncle and I are the only ones that stand a chance.”

“Then you should have taught us. It’s your fault we’re so defenseless now,” Derek huffed, pointedly not looking his mother in the face. He still noticed how her body reacted when she winced from his words.

“I did my best to give you a good upbringing. One that didn’t revolve around you being nothing but a werewolf. I didn’t want you to live in constant fear of being hunted, Derek…” Talia gently explained, bringing one hand up to rub Derek’s arm.

He flinched away from the touch, looking at her then, “Well look where that got me. I was tricked by a hunter into getting my dad killed. Then they come back and what am I supposed to do? I have to run like a coward. What if Kate found me on the street? What if she found _any_ of us on the street? We would have died in cold blood because you never taught us what to do in those situations. We’re just a slaughterhouse for them.”

Talia was silent then, her eyes downcast in guilt. She didn’t speak for awhile then, allowing Derek’s words to sink in as she fiddled with her fingers.

Derek sighed, looking down at his legs before he spoke again, “It hurts to run from them like this. They’ve taken everything from me. And all I can do is accept that. I can’t fight back, I can’t even _think_ about fighting back. Instead… I just let them hurt me again and again and **again**. I don’t get to win. I just have to lose everything I care about… then run. It’s not fair. I want a fighting chance.”

Talia frowned, but nodded as she listened to Derek. She looked like she was heavily thinking something over before she looked back at his face. Derek could see that there were tears in her eyes as she responded.

“You’re right. We took your chance to fight for yourselves away from you. From now on we’ll have mandated pack training. Every week. Peter and I will teach you all the tools you need to fight the dangers we’ve been born to face off for yourself. When Peter and I aren’t around you will all need these tools to keep going. I was stupid for trying to hide that part of your lives from you,” Talia said with a remorse filled voice.

Derek just stoically nodded as he listened to the new change in their lives that was soon to come. He’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t excited to learn to fight for himself. Maybe then he’d be able to go back one day and tear Kate Argent’s throat out for what she’s done to him.

* * *

                                                                                              _One Month in New York_

* * *

 

Today was April 8th.

It had been one month since the Hale pack moved from their (once lovely) home in Beacon Hills, California, to their new home in New York, New York. Since then, so many things had changed. The betas all still went to school to finish their senior year, while Cora continued her time in middle school. Laura was working at some accounting firm as a receptionist to pass the time. Derek was surprised that she’d even applied for a job since she never thought to get one in Beacon Hills, but she assured him that it was just because she was always so bored while the betas were in school now. Back in their hometown, Laura had plenty of friends from school that she’d kept up with after graduation. But, since they moved, she must be lonely.

Derek and his friends hadn’t truly made up ever since the fire. Isaac rode with Erica now instead of Derek. Boyd said less to him than he usually did, and Erica spent most of her time taunting him than showing any actual care for conversation.

There was also an underlying resentment between them all towards him for the fact that so far none of them had beaten in him a sparring match. Laura had been the only one that had managed to take Derek down among the betas. Derek doesn’t feel bad that Erica had goaded him into taunting her back one day, telling her that “Bitten wolves will never be as strong as born wolves.”

Ever since then it had become the three betas’ mission to take Derek down at least once.

Derek was in his room that had been fully furnished since they last moved in. He now had a wardrobe full of clothes that he’d purchased, a new laptop sitting on his desk, a pull-up bar hanging above his door, and a small potted sunflower on his windowsill that Cora had given him.

Currently, the wolf sitting on his bed with his back to the wall. With his laptop sitting on his thighs, he furiously typed away at an essay he’d been tasked to do for his English class. Derek’s work was interrupted when he noticed a lanky boy standing in his doorway, staring at him. Isaac was still hesitant to be around him after he’d forcefully told him he wasn’t family to Derek.

Derek met his eyes with a raised, questioning brow but no words. Isaac sighed as he looked away from Derek’s eyes.

“It’s Stiles’s birthday. I thought you should know if you want to… say something to him. Or something,” Isaac said, still standing in the doorway.

Derek scoffed, looking back to his computer screen, “I have nothing to say to him,” he said.

“You’re lying,” Isaac stated, having heard his heartbeat.

“That’s none of your business,” Derek growled.

“Why are you always so angry with me? What did I do to you?”

“Aside from never allowing me any privacy? Telling everyone my feelings when I haven’t even come to terms with them myself? Prying into my feelings when I obviously don’t want to talk to you about them?” Derek listed his reasons off with a mocking tone. He didn’t mean to be so rude about it. They were legitimate reasons for his anger with Isaac, but the rudeness was a self-defense mechanism he’d never learned to turn off.

“If you had such a problem with me you should have never tried to turn me.”

“I did it-” Derek cut himself off, shaking his head. “...Just go back to your room, Isaac.”

“No,” Isaac said resolutely, stepping further into the room.

“I don’t want to argue with you.”

“Well then you should have never been such an asshole to me. I don’t want to be your enemy, Derek. None of us do.”

“Then **stop** trying to fix it,” Derek’s eyes flashed gold.

Isaac frowned at him, his arms crossed over his chest as he mulled over his words, “But… if we know something’s wrong, why wouldn’t we want to help you?

“Because I don’t want to be helped. I want to be left alone.”

“But…”

“I need _space_. That’s what I needed before the fire, and I still need it from you all now. You don’t get it. I’ve lived this way my entire life. I’ve had people _smelling_ how I feel my entire life. I’ve had people question my feelings, my behavior, my actions, every step that I’ve taken. It’s overbearing. Then my _dad_ dies, and my mother becomes even more paranoid. **_Especially_** with me. Just… take a hint. I’ve given as many as I fucking can.”

Isaac huffed, looking down at the floor as he shifted from foot to foot. Derek watched him, waiting for some sort of response before Isaac met his eyes again.

“I’ll give you space. I promise. But, only if you tell me something.”

Derek sighed, shrugging in response.

“Did you mean it? That I wasn’t family? That _we_ weren’t family?”

Derek watched the vulnerability fill his expression. He heard it in his voice. Derek knew that if he said yes, Isaac would never forgive him. There was some of him, some small part of him, that wanted to say yes. He wanted to confirm all of Isaac’s fears. To push his family away from him for good. But, there was so much more of him that saw Isaac for what he always was. Someone for Derek to protect. Derek had hurt him, and he knew that. He didn’t mean to, but he didn’t want to say sorry for it. He’d been pushed, then berated for falling off the edge. But Isaac had done nothing truly wrong to him.

“No. I was angry,” Derek said, looking back down at his screen in an attempt to hide his eyes. After a small moment of silence, Derek added, “I’m sorry.”

The shift in mood was immeasurable. Derek could feel it just as much as he could smell it. Isaac had a weight completely lifted off his shoulder, and he seemed so much happier for it. Maybe in time he would forgive Derek for his words... Maybe he already had.

As Isaac was making his way out of Derek’s room, Derek had a sudden question in mind.

“How did you know that it was Stiles’s birthday today? I didn’t even know that.”

Isaac looked back at him with a shrug, “We’re friends on Facebook, it showed up in my notifications. All of us said happy birthday on there.”

Derek huffed, “I don’t have Facebook.”

“You’re a caveman, I’m not surprised. Maybe you should text him.”

“I-”

“You want to talk to him, Derek.”

Derek just silently frowned at the statement. After another moment of silence passed them, Isaac walked away without another word. Derek, left to his own devices, went back to typing.

After less than two minutes of trying to get his homework done, there was a knock at his door that had been rudely left open by Isaac. Derek looked up with a huff, annoyed at being distracted again and saw his big sister standing in the doorway.

“Hey there, broody wolf,” she teased, albeit a hollow tease. Even his relationship with Laura had been strained since the move. Derek could blame it on the broken jaw she’d given him, but it was truthfully just because he didn’t want to face her.

“Don’t call me that,” he answered gruffly. Derek closed his laptop with finality, deciding he wasn’t going to get that essay done today. “What do you want, Laura?”

“Ah, the ice cold approach. You’d think I’d be used to it after all this time…” Laura said wistfully, but Derek could hear the genuine sadness in her voice. “I wanted to talk to you. I heard yours and Isaac’s conversation…”

“Of course you did,” Derek sighed. If she’d heard his conversation about _privacy_ why would she talk to him about eavesdropping?

“And… I wanted to talk to you about Stiles,” she finished.

Derek frowned, crossing his arms across his chest without responding.

“I never told you about what happened after you left the arcade. Between Stiles and I.”

Derek continued to be silent. He barely wanted to hear this, but he couldn’t deny his curiosity.

“Tough crowd…” Laura scoffed. She moved to Derek’s desk, pulling out his computer chair so that she could sit down and make herself more comfortable. “After you left, I started questioning him about all of that… craziness. You being so mad at him for all of this and what-not. He looked heartbroken. I could smell the sadness wafting off of him so extremely that I wondered just how bad your words could have really meant to him. But, I still wanted to ask him what the hell was going on, since you said that he _knew_ about the fire.

“He opened up to me more easily than I thought he would. Probably so I would come back and tell you, so you’d forgive him. But, I wanted to give you time to find peace with yourself before I started adding onto it with news about your… old friend. Anyway, he told me that he did know.”

Derek growled at that admission.

“- But, he also knew that there was no way to change the outcome. Listen, I don’t know what the fuck he can do. I’m not even going to try and wrap my head around someone who can ‘tell the future’. But, he never lied. He said that if you came home, the house still would have burned down. There wasn’t going to be a change in events. Cora would still get lost, we would still move the same day, everything would have been the same.”

“You all wouldn’t have been as angry with me as you were,” Derek pointed out.

“No, but that wasn’t his fault. That was _your_ fault for running away and turning off your phone when hunters were after us,” Laura countered, glaring at Derek. Derek just huffed, defeated from that point.

“He never meant to hurt you. I know that because I _talked_ to him. If you gave him a chance… you could understand that too,” Laura stood from the chair, her story seemingly over as she began walking towards the door. Right as she was about to walk out, she looked over her shoulder at Derek.

“There’s more to that story. But that’s his side to tell of it. I’ll let you find it out from him,” Then she left Derek in silence.

Derek groaned, falling onto the bed with an annoyed groan. Why was everything so complicated? Why couldn’t he just be _mad_ at Stiles and let it go? He wanted to let him go.

Derek picked up his phone, unlocking it and moving to his text thread with Stiles. Stiles hadn’t bothered him since the fire. He had been the only one to respect his need for space.

With trembling hands, he typed out “Happy Birthday,” but then deleted it.

Then he typed “I’m sorry,” and deleted it.

 _I miss you_ \- deleted.

 _I was stupid_ \- deleted.

 _I should have told you_ \- deleted

In the end, he just closed his phone. Derek couldn’t text Stiles. It was too much, too soon. He couldn’t face it.

It was only a few minutes later that his phone vibrated in his still trembling hand. He looked down, holding back tears as he read the text message displayed on the screen.

_S: Thanks, big man._

* * *

  _Four Months In New York_

* * *

 

Graduation came sooner than Derek felt it should. It felt wrong to end a chapter of his life in such a sour mindstate. However, his family was in absolute joy. He could see his mother and sister crying emotional tears of joy when he walked the stage. He _did_ smile for the camera. All of the betas seem immensely pleased with themselves as they walk for their high school diplomas. He wants to be happy for them. But, life hasn’t ever felt right since the fire. New York still doesn’t feel like home to him.

Through training the last four months, Derek and the other betas had become amazing killing machines. Peter was (surprisingly) a very good teacher when it came to combat. Derek and Laura picked it up better than the other wolves, but each of them had their strengths. Boyd was immensely powerful, but he was slower than the others. Erica was the opposite. She didn’t hit as hard, but her claws were as sharp as the others and she swiped faster than their eyes could keep up. Isaac was much more agile than anyone thought he could be. While he was neither a powerhouse nor a slice-and-dice machine, he was hard to hit and harder to dodge. He found weak points and openings better than any other wolf.

Still, none of them, other than Laura, had bested Derek. So far, the score held that Erica was the next best thing after Derek, then Boyd, then Isaac. Cora hadn’t started training yet, but she was promised her time when she started high school. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like the supernatural had an affinity for highly crowded places like New York, so there hadn’t been any “excitement” yet.

Derek went looking for a job for the summer. He had a scholarship for college that he was sitting on. He’d been accepted to all of the major universities to play football for them, but he hadn’t decided on which he’d attend.

He ended up finding himself applying for a job at a local car mechanics shop: _Automaton Repair by Claire_

The owner was a sweet lady, named Claire of course, who was looking for an assistant to help with the heavy lifting since she was growing back pains from the lifting she’d done alone. Derek was perfect for the job with his supernatural strength, and was accepted on the spot after he helped the mechanic lift a car onto a lift with his own bare hands.

Erica and Boyd had returned to Beacon Hills for the Summer despite Talia’s many protests. They tried to explain that their parents had been worried ever since their extremely sudden disappearance, but Talia still tried to argue that she could clear things up for them. In the end, they were on a plane to Beacon Hills with fear and a small bit of optimism in them.

Derek hadn’t texted Stiles since his birthday. He didn’t know if he’d ever gather the courage to try again. Stiles deserved better than the coward he was.

* * *

_One Year In New York_

* * *

 

Heavy breathing. Gasps lost to the air. Skin on skin. Derek’s claws rake across the back of the dotted boy’s back in a way that would only leave a delicious mark for Derek to find later.

Stiles sits with his knees bent at Derek’s waist. Derek’s arms circled around his waist to hold him secure against his bare chest, the boy above him arches into his touch. Together, they fit like a perfectly put together puzzle.

Derek reaches up into Stiles’s hair with his hand, pulling him down so their lips can meet in a fiery race of lost time. Stiles flies down so fast that Derek’s hand barely needs to guide him. Derek feels Stiles shiver as their share their first of many entanglements, and places his free hand on Stiles’s hip to hold him steady. The leaner boy takes that as an invitation to move instead, grinding his hips down into Derek’s. Derek had only then noticed that that their bottom halves were still clothed, but the denim between them only added to the friction that their cocks created as they pressed against one another. Stiles seemingly knew the exact positioning he needed so that they may thrust against each other without awkwardly losing each other in the process. Derek growled into Stiles’s mouth as he felt his arousal building inside his stomach. He let his hand drop from the dotted boy’s hair and navigate to the other side of his hips, instead to drag him even further into him.

Stiles moaned into his mouth, pulling away with a lustrous grin on his face. He let his hands trail down Derek’s arms, feeling his muscular forearms before bringing his hands back to Derek’s chest and roaming towards his abs. All the while, his hips never stopped expertly moving against Derek’s.

Derek couldn’t handle the friction anymore, he needed Stiles. He needed to _feel_ Stiles, _taste him, take him._

“Missed you,” Derek muttered as he kissed Stiles’s shoulder, then his chest. His hands moved from Stiles’s now still hips, and grabbed the button of his pants instead. He looked up at Stiles for reassurance that was he was doing was okay, only to find a look of shock and unsteady understanding on his face.

Stiles grabbed his face with both hands, leaning down to leave a gentle kiss on his temple before he whispered, “Wake up, Derek.”

* * *

Derek woke up in his bed in his newly acquired home with a start. He looked wildly around the room, looking for signs of Stiles. He sighed, falling onto his back once again as he stared up at the ceiling.

“Fucking dream…” he growled to the air, quietly.

Angrily, Derek got out of bed. He stripped his clothes before walking into the bathroom for a shower. There was no way he would be able to sleep in cum soaked underwear.

* * *

Derek had opted out of going to college, deciding that he didn’t know what he wanted from it and that he didn’t want to focus on football either way. He was making decent money at the mechanic’s shop, and it was an enjoyable experience working there.

Erica and Boyd had survived their trip to Beacon Hills without a hitch. They did report that they never went anywhere without each other, so they assumed hunters didn’t want to ambush them together.

The graduated betas had all decided to go to college the minute they could. All except Derek. Isaac was studying psychology. He wanted the chance to help children who had also been through the amount of troubles he’d been through in his own life. Erica, surprisingly, really wanted to become a teacher. She went to a community college for her credits, deciding that she didn’t need a big name under her education belt to teach some high school students. Boyd had expressed an interest in sports medicine ever since he’d first joined the high school football team, but had never truly pursued anything until college. At least not in front of Derek, he hadn’t.

All of them seemed to have steady goals in mind, and Derek was happy that they did. But, since working at the shop, he’d saved up more than enough over the year to acquire his own place. And so he did. The news of him moving out of the family home before even Laura did, did not settle well. His mother was angry with him for doing it so soon and so suddenly, as well as for not asking for help with it. Laura wasn’t as upset as he thought she would’ve been. She assured him that she’d been expecting it from him, even sooner than it happened and hinted that she would probably follow in his steps soon after. All of the betas had taken dorms on campus, so many of them didn’t find out until they came back for weekends or holidays. As usual, they were pissed with him for making decisions behind their backs. But, Isaac had convinced them that it was for the better. Hopefully their strained relationship would ease with the space between them.

* * *

Derek’s apartment wasn’t large. It was fairly small but it was an accommodating place to live. His kitchen and his living room were connected, and it only had one bedroom. The bathroom had a shower with no bath connection, but he liked it. The best part about it was all of the privacy. The silence. The peace.

Derek had always had an issue with how loud such a big family could be. But living on his own was entirely new experience. He could be angry and just… be angry. No one to ask what was wrong, no one to eavesdrop on his conversations and ask him about them, no family.

The one thing that was terrible about it all was… Derek can’t cook. He has to order out or buy pre-cooked meals every night. It was definitely the most embarrassing moment in the world when he called his favorite pizza place and they greeted him by name before he even told them his order. He stopped ordering from them after.

* * *

_Four Years in New York_

* * *

The betas were graduating college today. Erica and Boyd were extremely excited as they were finally finished school, while Isaac was grumpy that he had to graduate just to go back for his doctorate. Derek was currently back in his family home for the first time in two years. After a while, he’d stopped coming over for anything unimportant.

Derek had stopped caring about the holidays. After Cora had gotten old enough to stop caring about the little gifts he used to get her, there just wasn’t much reason for him to show up anymore. One of his family members called him every holiday, asking him if he would show up this time. He always just gruffly said no and excused himself for work, despite the shop being closed on every major holiday.

He still had dreams of Stiles occasionally. Each one ending with Stiles asking him to wake up and Derek doing just that. Even when they weren’t erotic, Stiles implored for Derek to wake up before anything truly happened between them. Derek had deemed them the cock block dreams.

He’d become to main mechanic for Claire after she’d decided she would rather stick to the paperwork and let Derek handle all the menial labor. She profusely thanked him when he agreed to the job, giving him all the credit to how good her body felt over the years.

The promotion did mean that he was at the shop more often than not, as he was the only one that could do any of the actual repairs. Claire assured him that she was attempting to hire a mechanic that could take over during his off time but so far no one had been biting. Something about Derek scaring off coworkers or something.

Back in his home, Derek watched his mother frantically running around the house in a long red dress that was far too glamorous for a college graduation ceremony, attempting to get all of the betas in one room together. Peter took a seat next to Derek with a sleek, black button down shirt, black slacks and shoes to match.

“Didn’t know you could dress so sharp, uncle,” Derek said, raising an eyebrow to Peter.

“Didn’t know you could still talk, nephew,” Peter shot back.

Derek scoffed, ignoring his uncle as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaning back in his seat. Derek wore something very similar to his uncle, although his shirt was white.

“How has your tattoo healed?” Peter asked, breaking the small moment of silence. Last year, Derek had come to his uncle with a question about whether or not wolves could sustain a tattoo.

Peter had explained that they could, but only with wolfsbane infused ink, which he of course had the means of acquiring. Derek hadn’t wanted anything complex, but he still had Cora draw him a triskelion design that he would have placed on his back.

His uncle was ever so excited to do the honors in giving Derek his first experience with the pain of wolfsbane and a needle.

“It’s fine. Still there, at least,” Derek responded.

Peter nodded, “If you ever want more…”

“I’ll be fine, uncle.”

Laura walked into the house with a simple white summer dress on. It wasn’t anything too fancy, but it fit the general occasion. She looked over at her brother and uncle with a small smile on her face. She hadn’t seen Derek in years either. She walked over, gesturing for Derek to stand up so that she could wrap her arms around him and give him a big hug.

“I’ve missed you,” she said as she pulled away before putting her hands on his face with a frown, “You’re growing a beard.”

“Claire told me it makes me look more buff if I have a five o’clock shadow,” Derek patted her shoulder as he released her, “You could always come visit me, you know. I can’t keep spending all _my_ money to get rides here.”

“You’re rich, Derek.”

“So are you, Laura.”

“I have a full time job!”

“So do I!”

“Well-”

Talia interrupted both of them, “Children! Derek, stop arguing with your sister. Laura, stop pestering Derek and come give me a hug.”

Laura huffed with a smile creeping on her face as she paced over to their mother to give her a hug as well. Under her breath, she muttered, “He started it…”

“She’s lying!” Derek grumbled.

Talia just looked between her children with a sigh before looking towards the stairs, “Hurry up, children, we’re going to be late if you all keep wasting time like this!” she yelled.

Derek heard a loud ‘THUMP’ upstairs and Erica scream before heavy footsteps started to fall down the steps. In came a very content Boyd with Erica thrown over his shoulder kicking at his ribs with mismatched high heels on. In his free hand, he held the matching shoes for each.

Boyd wore more or less the same outfit as the other men, although his shirt was a deep red to stand out. Derek realized how dull men’s fashion truly was, seeing as none of the wolves could think to wear anything different.

Erica wore a matching red mini dress with a keyhole cut out in the middle of her chest. She had long, red acrylic nails to fit the entire ensemble but on her feet were two six inch heels of varying colors. The one on her left foot was plain white, while the other matched her dress with red.

Boyd released her, allowing her to fall on her feet. She punched him in the arm with force before snatching the heels from his hand and holding them up towards the group.

“Which one do I wear? Boyd is no fucking help,” Erica huffed, looking at them all questioningly.

“Red,” Derek said automatically. “It matches the rest of what you’re wearing.”

“Yeah, but then I have _too much_ red. So I should wear white to keep it from being too boring. Thank you, Derek!” Erica smiled at him with a bright smile as she pulled off her red heel and replaced it with her second white one, using Boyd to keep her balance.

Isaac was the next to come down the steps in a rush. He was breathing heavily as he tried to tie his tie around his neck. He was wearing a black vest over a white button up with black trousers and black shoes.

“I can’t get it!” he moaned in annoyance. Derek laughed to himself as he stood up, walking over to help the taller boy out with his troubles.

“I swear I taught you how to do this for high school graduation,” Derek said as he expertly began tying the fabric together.

“That was four years ago, Derek. I haven’t tied a tie since then!” Isaac huffed, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment as he felt Derek tighten the tie around his neck. “Thanks,” he said, loosening it just enough so that he was comfortable.

After getting his wardrobe in order, he began fixing his mess of curls on his head before Erica walked over and started dragging her fingers through it to do it for him. Boyd followed behind her, straightening out Isaac’s vest.

Together, they managed to get Isaac in a state that they all deemed worthy of going out.

Cora was the last to come down the steps, dressed in a black summer dress that she seemed far too uncomfortable in. She had a black cardigan on over it, probably to hide the burn scar that was left on her arm from the fire. Derek had only seen Cora in a dress twice her entire life: once when she went to a fifth grade dance, and the second time at their father’s funeral. It didn’t help that ever since the fire, she hated wearing anything that showed her scar.

Cora had grown into a beautiful young woman throughout the years. Talia dubbed her a mini-Derek the moment she turned sixteen and gained his legendary scowl. She, however, took immense pride in her ability to scare people off. The last time Derek talked to her on the phone, she told him a story of how a man had catcalled to her in the streets and by the time she was done threatening him, she could smell urine in his pants.

“Can we go now? I want to get this stupid thing off,” Cora groaned. Luckily their mother hadn’t forced her to wear heels as well, or she might have tried to stay home altogether.

Talia sighed, walking over and wrapping her arms around Cora’s head to pull her towards her mother’s chest, “My beautiful girl,” she dreamily said.

Cora grimaced, pushing her mother away and looking towards the rest of the group with a face that could only mean ‘Please save me’.

They all looked at her with a look of sympathy on their face as Peter walked forward and opened the door for them.

“Uber’s here!” he announced.

* * *

The graduation was a somber ceremony. Talia cried, Peter hooted and hollered for each beta to walk the stage, Laura kept taking pictures with the flash on. Erica made a show of forcing the photographer to get her good side, Isaac somehow tripped up the stairs, Boyd accidentally scared the diploma distributor. Cora showed Derek a picture of some boy that had shown interest in her at school, he told her he wasn’t worth it to which she laughed and said “I know.”

All in all, it could have gone worse.

* * *

_Five Years in New York_

* * *

It had officially been five years since the Hale pack had moved to New York together.

At this point, they were all scattered around the city. Boyd and Erica had moved in together to some house they loved, Laura lived alone in an apartment that was only ten minutes from their mother’s house, Isaac was still in school but Talia purchased him a house close to the school as a graduation present so he wouldn’t have to dorm on campus nor would he have to commute. With all of the betas other than Cora out of the house, Peter had moved into his own home as well, though it was still in the close vicinity of Talia’s like Laura’s was. Cora was graduating high school this year, showing a clear interest in pursuing a career in art afterwards. Apparently, she really wanted to start giving others tattoos ever since she saw Derek’s.

Derek knew they still held pack meetings every month, but he never showed up. Sometimes, he really did have work. Other times, he just didn’t want to go.

Life working at Claire’s had eased up ever since she hired another mechanic to finally work under Derek. The girl had taken well to his gruff and stoic attitude, explaining that he reminded him of her dad. He didn’t know if that was a compliment or not.

She’d trained really well under him. So much so that she was able to work by herself in the shop only a few months after Derek had begun training her. The few days he truly had off to himself were a blessing he never knew he missed.

Today was one of those days he had off to himself. Usually, he spent it outside of the house in an attempt to get some fresh air. But today, there was a heavy downpour of rain that even he didn’t want to get stuck in.

Derek had found himself a new hobby of reading when he had free time, so he while he was stuck inside he laid on his couch and read in relaxation. That was, until there pounding at his door.

He groaned to himself, tucking one of the pages in to keep his place before standing up to grab the door. He couldn’t smell who it was thanks to nothing but rain masking their scent, but from their pounding he could only assume it was his landlord or someone else who thought Derek owed them his time. When he opened his door though, he was met with his big sister staring back at him with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Laura?” he asked.

“Not answering your phone again, brother?” she responded, quirking her brow.

“I was reading. I wasn’t really looking at it. Why? Did something happen?”

“Well, if you would ever come to pack meetings then you would _know_ what happened. But don’t worry, no one’s hurt.”

“Then what’s the-”

Laura interrupted him by allowing her eyes to bleed red. Derek stared at her in utter shock, his mouth agape. She blinked, and her eye color returned to normal.

“We’re having another pack meeting. Right now. I think it’s important you come.”

“Mom is…”

“She’s fine. It’s not like that. She relinquished her power to me at the last pack meeting. It was a very emotional moment and everyone cried and you should have been there. But, it’s fine. She was the one who put herself in that position, and now here we are.”

Derek nodded grimly, looking down before he muttered, “I just have to get dressed,” and walked back inside. He left the door open for Laura to follow him inside to wait.

* * *

Walking back into his mother’s home felt like an entirely new experience. There had never been a moment in his life that he had looked at his mother without seeing his alpha in the same glance. He didn’t know what to expect.

Laura walked with him every step of the way as they made their way into the living room to greet the other wolves of the pack. Derek looked up to meet all of the eyes placed on him, but searched only for Talia’s.

She met his with shocked and tired eyes. Laura must not have told everyone that she was retrieving him. When Derek looked into his mother’s eyes for the first time since she lost her alpha status, he was met with a feeling of both familiarity and one of the unknown. She was the same, but so different.

Slowly, he made his way to her as she stood to greet him.

“Just because I’m not your alpha doesn’t mean you don’t have to listen to your mom, you know,” she quietly said, breaking the tension. Derek frowned as he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. He never realized that all he really wanted was for his mom to just be his mom. His father had been that parental figure for him that he didn’t have to fight his wolf to disobey. No matter how much time he spent with his mom without her giving him orders, his wolf always submitted to her in a way that never gave Derek the same comfort he would have had if she was just his mom.

He missed his mother’s love, without his alpha’s dominance cosigning it.

Talia rubbed her son’s back gently. Derek could feel tears landing against his chest, but he didn’t care. They had so much time to make up for.

Laura was the one to break up their embrace with her voice, “I’m sorry to break up the tender moment, but I’ve brought Derek here to explain what’s going on. We already went over it last week, but things are going to be put into motion soon.”

Derek looked at his sister-turned-alpha with a curious glance. The other betas in the room all seemingly understood what was happening as Laura began explaining.

“Mother has been keeping a lot of information from us over the past few years,” she started. Talia sighed, sitting down as she nodded with guilt. Derek looked between them, wondering if they suddenly had tension between them.

“Like?” he asked.

“Since we moved, bodies have begun showing up strewn across our property every full moon. Apparently, omegas in search of shelter during full moons had come looking for us and were met with their untimely death instead each time. Now, the police have investigated and, of course, pinned it down as hard-to-explain animal attacks and nothing else.”

“Animal attacks? Isn’t it the Argents? Are they recreating claws or something to use?”

Laura shook her head and sighed, “From what we can tell, it’s not the Argents at all. Whatever is killing these omegas definitely has claws, according to our emissary... That we didn’t know we had,” Laura looked pointedly at their mother again, who shrunk back in her chair at her alpha’s gaze.

“We have an emissary? Dad told me that we never needed one,” Derek said in shock.

“Yeah, well, turns out we were considered too young and naive to deserve that kind of information our entire lives. Anyway, our emissary has been relaying information about the attacks to mother throughout the years but we haven’t been able to respond to it. Thankfully, we’ve all been training and working our asses off for a situation like this, so it’s been agreed upon all of us that we’re going back to Beacon Hills to take care of it,” Laura looked at Derek resolutely, implying that he was part of that plan.

“Wait. We’re just… we’re leaving?” he asked, looking around at everyone. “You guys are okay with this?”

“I kinda needed a semester off school anyway,” Isaac said, shrugging nonchalantly.

“No one’s hiring for teachers around here, so… I’m bored. Bunch of assholes on the upper levels that don’t want someone without experience. How am I even supposed to _get_ experience in this place!” Erica ranted as Boyd rubbed gentle massages into her shoulder.

“I hate my job,” Boyd said, as if that answered everything.

Derek frowned, looking at Cora. She still had school to finish.

“Cora and mother are staying here. It’s already been decided that Cora can’t join us on anything until she finishes high school, and mother still needs time to adjust to her weakened state,” Laura interrupted his thoughts as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.

Derek sighed, looking back at his big sister with his arms crossed, “I have to tell Claire that I’ll be using all that vacation time I accrued.”

The smile on Laura’s face was almost worth all of the hell he knew he was about to go through.

* * *

The plane ride back to Beacon Hills was far less peaceful than the one going to New York. The turbulence of the weather truly did it no justice.

Taking off work had surprisingly been easier than expected. Claire had been utterly relieved to hear he was using his vacation time, telling him he needed it more than anyone and that he needn’t come into work until he was properly rested.

Laura had found her seat next to him again, just the same as when they’d first traveled together. Derek took the opportunity to question her.

“You seemed mad at mom,” he stated bluntly.

“I am,” she responded, just as blunt.

“It feels weird to be on the other end of this… but what happened?” he asked, looking over at her.

“Other than finding out that she’d been lying to us for years and hiding the truth about… everything? You didn’t even witness the argument between us all when she attempted to tell us that we weren’t going back to Beacon Hills. You know she’d only told us because Boyd and Erica made a claim that they were going to go back to visit their parents? She was just going to hide it from us for the rest of our lives and let those wolves die. Who knows how many innocent people could have died because of her lack of action,” Laura’s eyes were slowly beginning to bleed red as she ranted.

“How did you… take her power?” Derek asked cautiously.

“It was a unanimous decision by everyone in the pack. I challenged her for it, and she tried to make me back down from her, but Erica backed me up. Then everyone else did. It was an emotional moment for her to realize that she fucked up. In the end, she just transferred the power to me. It’s hard to get used to still, seeing as she never fucking taught me what it would be like. You know, you were always so angry about how absolutely involved we were with your life… but this just made me feel like mother was nowhere near as involved as she pretended to be.”

Derek nodded, looking down to the floor of the plane, “She changed after dad died. She tried to hide us from what we truly had to offer.”

Laura shook her head, “Fucking terrible. I hate knowing that I’ve lived so much of my life so… ugh. I don’t know. Weak. Afraid of what the world could do to me. When now I know that whatever the world could do against me, I could give back a hundred times harder.”

Derek laughed quietly, “With your new alpha powers I’d say two hundred times.”

Laura smiled then, leaning her head on his shoulder, “That’s my little brother, hyping me up like he used to.”

“Don’t get used to it, I’m just trying not to anger the new alpha.”

“Stop making jokes, you’re gonna give me false hope that your broody side has disappeared.”

“I don’t brood.”

“It’s sad that your heartbeat didn’t even tick… you really believe that.”

Derek huffed, pushing his sister off his shoulder with a shrug. She laughed to herself as he grumpily looked out the plane window and ignored her the rest of the trip.

* * *

When they landed, Laura told Erica and Boyd to go visit their parents as that was their original plan in coming back anyway. They both appreciated her sentiment, taking off together in a rental car so that they could visit their parents together.

Laura then announced to Derek, Isaac, and Peter that they would be paying a visit to their emissary.

“It’s about time all of us got to know the person who’s been so close to our family for years,” she looked pointedly at Peter, who’d never told the younger betas about the emissary their entire life. He just shrugged.

“Whatever the alpha orders,” he said with a bright smile on his face.

“And I order you to lead us there,” Laura said getting in the passenger’s seat of their own rental car.

Peter looked at the other boys with a wistful sigh, “Women, am I right?” before he moved to the driver’s seat and entered the car.

* * *

Apparently, their emissary took residence at some place called _Beacon Hills Animal Clinic_. Peter explained to them that he hid under the guise of being a regular animal veterinarian, which helped none of their confusion lessen. For the past few days, Derek felt like everything was a constant whirlwind of confusion and changes that he could never have foreseen. But nothing prepared for him for the moment he walked into the animal clinic.

Derek looked over, meeting the eyes of a very shocked Stiles staring back at him from a waiting room seat.

 

“Derek?”


	9. Emissary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pack finally meets their secret emissary, Derek and Stiles have a surprise reunion, and the pack finally finds out what's been terrorizing the omegas in their area.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy this new chapter of the story. I do have to tell you though, there will not be an update for the story next week as I'll be travelling for most of the week.  
> However! If you'd like to keep up with me from here on out and get to know ME better, I've made a twitter account just for this! If you'd like to follow me, here's the link [Twitter](https://twitter.com/rosethornfics)

Derek stared into the face of the dotted boy with mirrored shock. He knew that he would probably run into Stiles at some point when he returned, but he didn’t expect to find him _here_ of all places. Derek’s fists instinctively clenched as a flux of memories returned to him: the truth that Stiles had hidden from him, the feeling of Stiles pressed against his chest, Stiles’s lazy grin in the morning. Stiles’s face when Derek told him “Don’t touch me.”

Stiles looked almost the same as he did five years ago. He was still just as lanky but his hair had grown slightly. He looked tired, maybe he’d just gotten off work or back from school. He wore a thin black sweater that was tucked into his black jeans with a belt looped around his waist. If Stiles wasn’t in a veterinary clinic, Derek might have assumed he was on a date.

Everything Derek had ran from five years ago met him the same day he came back. Stiles still sent the same feelings through him that he did so long ago. Derek felt his heart race and his body unwillingly crave the feeling of the dotted boy wrapped up against his chest. He missed the comfort of Stiles’s fingers running through his hair more than he ever had when he was in New York. Stiles being here, in front of Derek, only amplified all of those desires he’d buried down deep so long ago.

With all the thoughts running through his brain, he couldn’t even think to respond. Thankfully, after his long silence, Laura replied in his place.

“Stiles. We didn’t expect to see you here,” she said, seemingly just as shocked as the two boys.

Stiles glanced at her for just a moment before looking back to Derek, transfixed on his face. He said, “I’m waiting for Scott to get off work in five minutes. He’s in the back with his boss.”

Peter interrupted the conversation with a teasing tone, “Come on, Derek, talk to the boy. You’ve made him wait so long.”

Derek turned a fiery glare onto his uncle. If he punched him Laura wouldn’t care. He deserved it.

“It’s fine, I understand,” Stiles said. A fake smile appeared on his face as he tried to shrug off the awkward encounter.

Just when Derek thought he was saved, Laura responded for him again.

“No, it’s not. I think Derek really should talk to you.”

This time, Derek turned his anger on his sister. Laura just gave him a direct look in return, not backing down from her stance.

Stiles, noticing Derek’s anger, responded, “No, no it’s fine. Scott’s almost done anyway and we have somewhere to be so…”

As if he were called, Scott came shuffling with haste out of a door that had previously been closed. He looked flustered and stressed as he began pulling off his white doctor’s coat. However, when he looked up to notice all of the wolves in the same room as Stiles, he immediately paused.

Scott made eye contact with Derek and frowned, “What the fuck is he doing here?”

Stiles sucked in a breath with shock, “Scotty don’t-”

Scott scoffed, interrupting Stiles as he moved in front of the boy. He glared into Derek’s eyes with a fire the wolf had never seen from him before, “No, Stiles. This stupid asshole was a… stupid asshole to you!”

Stiles sighed, putting his hand on Scott’s shoulder and shaking his head, “This is not a challenge you want to attempt, dude. It’s fine, we have to go to dinner anyway.”

Scott shrugged his shoulder off and suddenly launched a punch at Derek’s jaw with immense force. Had Derek seen it coming, he would have moved with it to let Scott ‘win’ in a sense. But instead, he stood still and took the punch like a brick wall. Honestly, he barely felt it. Scott, however, felt everything. Derek watched as his anger suddenly switched to immense pain as he grabbed hold of his injured hand with his normal one.

“God- **FUCK!** OW?! What the fuck?! Did you get fucking steel implanted in your jaw while you were in New York? God fucking damn- jesus- OW!” Scott exclaimed as he started bouncing around the waiting room from foot to foot. Stiles stared at him with disappointment in his eyes.

Isaac quietly laughed behind Derek’s back, putting a hand over his mouth to muffle himself. Laura just put her hands on her hips, shaking her head as she watched the boy moan in pain.

“I think my hand might be broken…” Scott groaned, eyes closed as he cradled his hand to his chest.

“I told you not to do that…” Stiles said as he wrapped his arm around Scott’s shoulder before he began dragging Scott out of the clinic.

“I promised you I’d rock his jaw when he came back! How was I supposed to know he had a Superman jaw?!” Scott complained. “Ugh… Allison is gonna be so pissed when she sees this.”

“C’mon… I’ll take you to your mom. She’ll get you all braced up.”

“Chris is gonna kill me for missing family dinner… _Again…_ ” Scott cried as he walked out of the vet’s waiting room.

Stiles looked back at Derek for a final, apologetic glance before walking out into the street. As he disappeared, a new voice reverberated in the air.

“Well, it’s so lovely to finally meet you all.”

* * *

There were many things Derek expected to see when he heard the word “emissary.” Maybe an old woman with long, grey hair that looked like she talked to plants instead of humans for socialization. Or maybe an overtly tall man that always had his arms crossed as if he were constantly protecting what was behind him. Or anything other than a regular looking, dark skinned man with little to nothing to make him stand out in a crowd. He wore scrubs and a white coat over them as his veterinary uniform. He was shorter than Derek, another surprise, and just looked like a generally nice guy that wouldn’t never be the start of a problem. There was just nothing… special about him.

Laura and Isaac looked just as surprised as Derek did when they walked into the operating room to meet him. The legend of emissaries were tales of their childhood that they always believed, but could never prove.

His father would tell them that emissaries were druids that helped werewolves keep in touch with their human sides. But, they were more than just messengers or balance keepers: they had their own abilities to use beyond the help of wolves. Druids had the innate ability to control certain aspects of reality with magical means. Their father would tell them about how druids would throw wolfsbane in the air and magically create a circle of protection without needing any precision or care. Other stories told of how they took power from mistletoe to manipulate the elements around them, such as hiding their scent from wolves and even their heartbeats. But, most importantly was that they were masters of knowledge when it came to the supernatural. Emissaries were meant to be the source of advice for packs when they didn’t know how to tackle a situation. Derek’s father had told him that their pack were so well put together that they hadn’t needed one. He was a fool to believe that.

“My name is Alan Deaton,” the man said. “I have been acting emissary for the Hale pack for thirty years now.”

Laura flinched back in shock, “Thirty years?! You’ve been around since before I was born?”

Alan nodded solemnly, “Yes. I’ve been the acting emissary for most of Talia’s time as alpha. But now I see that you’ve taken over,” he said as he looked towards Laura with a strained smile. “Talia didn’t always listen when I gave her advice, I see that’s what led her to this situation.”

“What do you mean ‘that’s what led her to this situation’?” Isaac asked, standing behind the Hale siblings.

“I told her that it would be best to train you all young to defend yourselves. I recommended that Peter,” he nodded to the older man, “train you in combat while I extended my research to you like a school course. But, she declined. She promised that once Laura graduated high school, she would start the process. But then Jason died and Talia stopped talking to me as I heavily pushed for you all to be prepared for what was to come. Instead, she commanded your pack destroy the Argents.”

Peter chimed in, “Which worked in our favor!”

“At the loss of so much more,” Deaton chided with a click of his tongue. “Not even including the deaths of the innocent werewolves in that war, Talia’s psyche suffered and the children suffered in tandem. And in the end, was it really in your favor when the hunters returned and you all ran for the hills with no backbone?”

Peter glared at Alan, “I never liked you.”

“Do you like anyone?” Alan questioned, an eyebrow raised. Peter went to answer him, but the emissary cut him off as he turned his attention back to Laura, “As the new alpha, there’s a lot you should know. But, before we get into that, we need to speak about the attacks. How much has Talia told you?”

Laura was the one to respond, “Not much. She explained that wolves were being killed by another creature of some sort. I assume a rogue wolf from the claws?”

Alan frowned, “She hides so much information from you all. It truly worries me as to what she thinks she’s accomplishing by sending you into threats blinded,”

Derek scoffed, “Well I wasn’t even there, so imagine how I feel."

“You weren’t there? When Laura became the alpha?” Alan asked, shocked.

Derek shook his head.

“I was told that it was a unanimous decision by the pack though…? Was there a miscommunication?”

Derek frowned, looking at Laura as she looked back at him. She was the one to respond for them both, “It was a shock to us all when the information came out. Derek hadn’t been showing up to pack meetings for awhile so the thought hadn’t occurred to me to stop my anger to call him for his opinion.”

“Then I wouldn’t consider it a ‘unanimous decision’,” Deaton said, shaking his head as he looked to Laura. “It’s important that you run everything through your entire pack unless you want to run a pack like your mother: full of secrets and deception.”

Laura’s eyes began to glow red in anger, “I’ve just begun, no need to compare me to her so soon.”

“I can see you can’t control the extra powers that have been ingrained so far. Whether you’re new or not, the same lessons apply. You should take to them well, or this will be a strained relationship.”

“I can see why my mother stopped talking to you,” Laura growled.

Derek placed a hand on Laura’s shoulder, “Stop, Laura. It’s not the time-”

“Don’t touch me!” Laura growled at him, pulling away from him with aggression. She was partially shifted now, her fangs and claws extending in anger. “You don’t get to randomly walk back into the pack and judge _me_ , Derek.”

Derek looked at her in shock, “I wasn’t…”

Deaton interrupted him, “Don’t mind her. Part of not being able to handle the immense power shift comes uncontrollable fits of rage. She’ll be back to her normal self after she realizes how to calm her alpha wolf in favor of her human side.”

Derek just frowned, staring at Laura as she began to breathe heavily and forced herself to shift back to her human form.

“Anyway, back to the matter at hand,” Deaton said, taking their attention away from the moment that had just passed. “This is not the act of wolves or hunters. I managed to investigate and examine a body before the police found them on the last full moon. What I found was both interesting and… concerning.”

Deaton turned around and began scouring through his cabinet full of vials and bottles with precision. Eventually he pulled out a dark vial that had only a few drops of liquid in it.

“Inside the claw marks there was venom tracing the wolf’s innards. Now, I don’t believe Talia ever explained to you what other creatures that there are wandering the world, but the one that secretes this venom is especially deadly.”

“Kanima,” Peter said in awe, his hands moving to hold himself up on one of the counters.

“Precisely.”

The wolves looked between Deaton and Peter with confusion.

“Um… what’s a kanima?” Isaac asked, one hand raised as if he were in school.

“It’s bad fucking news, that’s what it is,” Peter bit out, growling.

“A kanima is a reptilian shifter, like a wolf, but the human shifts into a reptile instead. They’re strong, fast, and they heal just as well as a wolf does. But, another major difference is that their claws are coated in a thick venom that paralyzes the victim. Once you’re hit, you start losing feeling in your entire body for a period of time and there’s nothing you can truly do about it other than… not get hit.”

“Wait,” Laura frowned, holding her hands up as her eyes scrunched closed in confusion. “So, a reptilian shifter, that has a human form, is killing wolves every full moon near our old house… and has been since when?”

“Since you moved. It started happening the full moon after the fire,” Deaton said.

Laura began to shift again, her claws digging into her hands so far that Derek smelt blood hit the air. “For five fucking years. Five. Fucking. **Years.”**

“Though I don’t agree with Talia’s methods, you all had no chance against it in your state that long ago. Now, though, I’d say you stand a chance if you’re lucky.”

“ **Lucky?** ” Laura looked ready to jump across the table and start tearing their emissary apart. “I’m going to rip that little reptilian freak into **SHREDS.** ”

Deaton just nodded along to her rage, “There is one more thing, though,” he said, looking at all of the wolves besides Peter. “A Kanima is a creature of vengeance. It acts out of revenge, and from the commands of a master. That means that, while there is a shifter on the loose, behind them is someone controlling them. Their reptilian side, at least.”

“How are one of these things even made in the first place? I know wolves have to get bitten so…” Isaac said, warily avoiding Laura’s path as she began stomping around the room.

“That’s... another thing. They get bitten. By alpha wolves. To become a kanima, the bite must go wrong. If there’s something else that grows inside of you, something that leaves inner turmoil beyond a small complication… then the wolf becomes a kanima instead. It looks to someone to take care of them to make up for their lack of self worth.”

All of the wolves, even Peter, looked to each other with questioning expressions on their faces.

“So… there was an alpha in Beacon Hills while we were gone? Or did the kanima travel here after getting bitten somewhere else?” Isaac asked.

Deaton shook his head sadly, “That… I don’t know the answer to. The attacks didn’t start happening until full moon after your departure, but I’d never heard word of another pack in the area. Unless there’s a rogue alpha on the loose, I can’t think of another answer as to how a kanima was created.”

Laura huffed, crossing her arms over her chest with a resolute face, “It doesn’t matter who bit who or what bit what, we’re going to take care of whatever the issue is.”

“Don’t get hasty, Laura,” Peter chided, “We have to find out more before we head in blindly. For now, let us focus on finding out more information about the attacks while you call your mother and find out anything else she may have hidden from us.”

Laura glared at him and opened her mouth to respond, but decided against it. She sighed, nodding, “Alright, that sounds fine. While I do that, you three move our stuff into the loft apartment.”

Derek reeled his head back, “We have a loft apartment? Since when?”

“Just another thing you missed in the pack meeting, nephew,” Peter smirked, walking out of the operating room cockily. Isaac shrugged sheepishly at Derek as he followed after the older man.

Derek growled looking back at Laura, “Anything else I should know about that meeting or am I not subject to all of the information?”

Laura rolled her eyes at him as she pulled out her phone, “If it comes up, I’ll let you know.”

“Come on, Derek, I pay for the gas in this thing!” his uncle called out to him.

Derek growled in annoyance as he turned his back on his sister and walked out of the room.

* * *

The loft was actually a very nice place. It was kind of industrial in theme. The walls were built of pure brick, and the front door was less of a door as it was a steel wall that slid into the roof. The floors were hardwood and the the living area was extremely spacious. While there was usually a wall that disconnected the kitchen from an entertainment area or a dining room, the loft didn’t have one. The kitchen, while small itself, connected to the rest of the living space freely. This created a lot of room for other things to be placed as there were no boundaries.

As of right now, there was no furniture, but with his uncle in charge of filling the area, Derek could only assume that that wouldn’t last long at all. Derek noticed in the back left corner of the loft was a spiral staircase that looked like it was made of steel. He wondered how large the upstairs might be seeing as Laura felt it was spacious enough to hold six wolves.

“Well isn’t this place just lovely?” Peter said as he walked in, dropping one of his suitcases to the ground.

“Seems kinda empty to me…” Isaac said, looking around as he rolled his suitcase inside.

“Have some imagination, Isaac. We have complete control over what goes in here! I’m thinking a flat screen tv right over… there!” Peter pointed to a secluded area in the loft, “Then we’ll have two couches in front of it to hold all of us, and one loveseat just for me. And over here we’ll have the table… not too large so it doesn’t take up _too_ much space. This kitchen is far too small, but whatever! That’s what the alpha wanted… I guess.”

Derek shook his head with a small smile on his face. His uncle was truly insane.

“Now then… since we have all of our stuff in here, why don’t we all go furniture shopping?” Peter grinned at them.

Both of the younger betas looked at each other in exasperation before they sighed in defeat.

This was going to be the longest day ever.

* * *

Derek hated his uncle. Peter enjoyed being rich _far_ too much. The man had gone into the furniture shop with one goal in mind: buy the most expensive option of everything we want.

That was how Derek and Isaac managed to be stuck hauling an 85 inch tv into their loft that they weren’t even permanently living in. Peter had demanded that they get the best of the best, which, in Peter’s mind, was synonymous to “buy what’s most expensive”.

Derek hadn’t cared about what they got, but he couldn’t help but be annoyed at Peter’s mindset. There was truly no reason for them to waste money this way.

Altogether, they’d bought a multitude of things for the apartment. Five beds (all of them king size), a new refrigerator (since the current one wasn’t white enough), five desks, five computer chairs, six new laptops (even though Derek and Isaac both were persistent in telling Peter that they brought their own laptops), two couches, one loveseat, a bunch of lamps, pillow cushions (that Peter spent far too long picking out), a dining table with six chairs, four standing mirrors (Peter explained that every room needed one and four of the rooms didn’t have mirrors integrated in them), and a tiny fan for Peter to help him sleep.

And none of that included the groceries Peter made them buy afterwards.

“Fuck… Erica… and… Boyd…” Isaac grunted as he helped Derek carry the mattress up the stairs. The awkward angle and constant struggle of watching their feet made it hard for even them to carry.

“I… can’t… believe… they got… out of this…” Derek grunted back, breathing heavily. They both let out a big groan of relief when they dropped the bed on the floor of one of the rooms.

“I’m… **_not_**   building the bed frame. Boyd and Erica can do this shit. I’m out,” Isaac said, throwing his hands up and leaving the room. Derek laughed as he hunched over. He placed his hands on his knees for support as he gathered his breath. After the beds had all been placed in their respective rooms, they’d finally finished moving everything in.

Isaac and Derek both sat on the couch which had actually been very comfortable. They both had large glasses of cold water that they gulped as if it were their last chance of survival.

“I wonder how Laura’s doing?” Peter said nonchalantly as he walked over this loveseat, completely unphased. He hadn’t helped at all other than the small things.

“Getting a handle of her anger issues, hopefully,” Derek said, taking the final sips of his water.

“What was that, brother?” Laura said as the steel door opened up.

“I said that I hoped you were getting a handle on your anger issues,” Derek repeated, looking back at her as she walked in with Erica and Boyd in tow. Laura spent time examining the place with a nod of approval.

“I like what you’ve done with the place,” she said.

“Yeah, good job guys!” Erica said, clapping her hands towards them.

Isaac growled at her, “There’s still bed frames to be built. You all can do those since we carried those hunks of dead weight up those stupid stairs.”

Boyd smirked at him, “Lucky for you, I love to build.”

Derek and Isaac both just rolled their eyes at him.

* * *

“So if the Argents aren’t the masters of this whole thing, who is?” Erica asked, having finally been caught up with the realities of their situation.

“We don’t know. I never realized that we’d actually have to investigate things when we got here,” Laura said, looking down to the floor.

All of them now sat in a circle formation around the dining table Peter had bought. The table in front of them was bare besides the wolves hands.

“It’s not always as easy as pinning the blame on hunters and running after them,” Peter chided, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.

“Thanks for being the voice of clarity, Peter,” Erica growled. “But that statement doesn’t exactly get us any closer to figuring out what we should do from here.”

“There aren’t any easy answers,” Peter explained. “As far as we know, the kanima only strikes every full moon. Our best bet is to wait until that time comes around, and then scope the area.”

Isaac added his input, “Having so many of us there might scare it away though don’t you think? Every victim has been a lone wolf.”

“Then maybe only one of us should be the bait? The rest of us sit in the house or far enough away that the other can lead it to us?” Derek said.

“It should be Erica then,” Peter looked at her as she put her hands up.

“Way to throw me to the snake there, Peter!”

Laura shook her head, “It makes sense. You’re the fastest of all of us, including me. If anyone has a chance of avoiding that thing and leading him anywhere, it’s you.”

Erica groaned as she hung her head on Boyd’s arm, “Fine… but only because none of you could do it! But… what if I get hit by that thing? How are any of you going to know?”

Peter grinned, “Don’t get hit.”

Erica just gulped in trepidation. Derek saw her hand that was conjoined with Boyd’s tightened for comfort.

It was hard to ask Erica to do something so dangerous, but it was true that she had the best chance to drag that thing away and straight into an ambush. Derek wished that he could be the bait in her place, but her chances of survival far exceeded his. The only other wolf that could handle the task was Isaac, but he could only dodge the kanima. Running faster than it wouldn’t be as easy for him.

“Do you think talking to your boy toy would help?” Peter asked, looking at Derek now.

Derek growled in annoyance, “He’s not my… ugh. No. I don’t. Why would he be helpful?”

“He’s the son of the sheriff is he not? He’d probably have access to valuable information that would help us learn more about the victims.”

“I’m not getting him involved in this,” Derek said resolutely.

“It’s your decision to hinder us, not mine,” Peter shrugged, making Derek growl louder at him.

“Stiles doesn’t need to get involved in this,” Laura said, looking between her brother and her uncle. “We know when the kanima will strike next. All we have to do is wait until then. We ambush it, we kill it, and we find its master after. Over the next few days we’ll try our best to find out who the kanima is before we face off against it, but even if we don’t find any luck, we’ll still move ahead with the plan as it is.”

All of the wolves nodded in shaky understanding. Derek had a really bad feeling about this.

* * *

The night of the full moon finally came. The wolves had tried and failed at finding the source of the Kanima the past three days. Even Peter had succumb to investigating, but came up blank. It turned out that it was extremely hard to find the source of a supernatural event while also trying to keep the fact that it’s supernatural a secret. The population of Beacon Hills was far too large to go around asking if “Anyone had been acting weird lately.”

Derek still refused to talk to Stiles or get him involved in anyway. Stiles had, as always, given him his space as well. The boy didn’t text him or even toe the line of his boundaries. Maybe after the problem was over, he would finally talk to him again. But for now, he didn’t have time to deal with those feelings. Literal lives were at stake unless him and his pack focused on this problem.

In the end, the wolves surrendered to the fact that they would have to go in blind. They all stood now at the river, while Erica stood waiting at the house. Once the moon reached its peak, Erica would howl to give herself away to the kanima. Then, that would hopefully initiate the chase.

The effect of the full moon had waned on the wolves over the years of control. It still brought their innermost instinct and savagery to the forefront, but they at least kept their minds. Derek would consider it to give them more strength and energy than any other day of the month, which made it absolutely perfect to kill something. However, there was a sinking feeling in his gut that the kanima might receive the same boon as the wolves. Hopefully, it had less control.

As the wolves all stood tensely waiting for Erica’s return, Derek’s phone began to ring. Unable to stop himself, he pulled it out and saw Stiles’s name appear on the screen. It was odd that the boy was calling him now. Not only was it random, seeing as they weren’t talking, but it was midnight.

He sighed, shaking his head as he declined the call. He would get back to him later, for now he had to watch out for Erica.

As soon as he canceled the call, it rung again with Stiles’s name. Derek growled and answered the phone in annoyance.

“ **Wha-”**

Stiles interrupted him, “DEREK! Fuck! Derek, Erica’s in trouble. I don’t- I don’t fucking know how! But I _feel_   it, Derek! You have to-”

His voice cut off as a new voice came through the phone’s speaker. It was Stiles, but not Stiles at all. It sounded as if his voice were reverberating through a large, empty tunnel. It was otherworldly and ethereal yet so ominous at the same time.

“ _A snake slithers through grass faster than a wolf can weave through trees. Once the moon reaches its apex, she has lost her chance to flee.”_

With that, the call was ended. All of the other wolves stared at Derek with wide eyes, having obviously heard the conversation. Laura opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Erica’s howl. Derek looked up to the sky.

 

The moon had reached its apex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know... I'm sorry! Stick around for the next chapter in TWO weeks to find out what happens  
> Again, if you'd like to keep up with me my Twitter is here [Twitter](https://twitter.com/rosethornfics)


	10. Our Only Option

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Stiles's ill omen ringing in their heads, the wolves try to save Erica from the Kanima. Desperate times call for desperate measures, even if it's the last thing Derek wants to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh was the two week wait long? I'm sorry for leaving you off with a cliffhanger! I hope you all enjoy this chapter at least to make up for it <3
> 
> Also, if you'd like to follow me and get updates on where I'm at with writing or just my general thoughts, here's my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/rosethornfics)

There was no time for hesitation. If what ‘Stiles’ said was right, Erica had no chance to escape. But with that warning, maybe they could save her in time

The wolves howled in unison as Laura led them towards their childhood home. The feeling that spread through Derek was unlike any other he’d ever experienced. He’d been scared before. He’d been desperate. He’d been heartbroken. But the feeling running through his veins at this moment was all of those emotions mixed into one and amplified ten fold. Derek would do anything to save Erica. He had to.

Boyd, despite being the slowest of the betas, had made his way ahead of everyone. Derek hadn’t been able to see Erica and Boyd’s love blossom since they moved. Through their rivalries and Derek pushing them all away, he’d missed out on their growth. What he had gathered was that they were made for each other. They fit together perfectly, and Derek couldn’t imagine them being anything other than life partners. So, though Derek held incomprehensible feelings, he could only imagine what Boyd felt right now.

Together they burst through the tree line to find themselves with their burnt down home in sight.

Erica was gone.

Isaac yelled, “She has to be running back to the river!”

“She would have ran the same path as us!” Laura growled back, her red eyes piercing their surroundings as she looked for her beta.

“Maybe she couldn’t run in a straight line?! She has to be around here somewhere, Laura, she _has_ to! She can’t be caught!” Isaac pleaded through his fangs.

Boyd, who only stood still with his fists clenched at his sides, said with finality, “She’s gone.”

Derek looked up at him, “Boyd?”

“She’s gone. She’s not here. We were too late.”

A stuttered breath escaped Isaac, “T-That can’t be true! Please! We can’t just give u-”

Boyd swiped his claw towards the air in front of him, “ **I can’t feel her**. She’s not here. If she were here, I would find her. She’s not here. Not even her body.”

Isaac’s mouth hung open as if he had something else to say, but he just looked down in defeat.

They were too late. They’d lost Erica. They pushed her to be the bait even though she didn’t want to, and now she was gone. Derek should have been the one. Derek should have been the one to be bait. They could function without him. They _had_ been functioning without him for years. Erica was integral to their pack.

Derek’s thoughts were interrupted by Peter’s voice which was calmly controlled, “There’s blood here. It’s not hers, though.”

A sad scoff emitted from Boyd, “Of course she’d get a good swipe in before going down. That’s my girl.”

“She’s not dead, is what I’m trying to say,” Peter looked up at the pack.

“What?” Derek began making his way towards his uncle.

“Her blood wasn’t spilled. So unless she was somehow strangled to death and dragged away in the minute it took us to get here, she’s still alive. For now.”

Laura snuffed as she came closer to the blood, taking a deep inhale. She looked at the rest of the betas, “I’m going to try and track a blood trail. Boyd, you come with me since you can discern Erica’s scent the best. Isaac, Derek, and Peter, you three trail behind us in a wide berth to cover as much ground as we can without being too far. **Do not go too far.** I can’t lose more of you.”

All together, they nodded. Derek had seen his sister give orders before, but this felt new. Not only was she his alpha, but she’d jumped into the new role much better now that there was an immediate emergency. The fact that she could control herself better when her beta was missing than when she was told her mother was lying to them took Derek by surprise. But, he assumed that when emergency arose there was more reason to control yourself.

Laura, sniffing at the ground as if she were a dog, led the pack out of their house clearing towards the west. Derek recognized the path as the one that he and his family used to drive up to get home but he didn't say anything. Chances were that his pack had realized that too. Derek took point directly behind Laura and Boyd to watch their backs while Isaac took point to their left and Peter to their right. If Derek squinted he could see his uncle and packmate in the midst of the shrubbery,

They couldn’t move as fast as they would like since they were tracking, but they still held a jogging pace. Halfway through the journey, Boyd had exclaimed that he could smell Erica’s scent, therefore they must be following the correct path. However, that meant that both the assumed kanima and Erica followed the same path. Erica wouldn’t be stupid enough to go after this thing alone, so that only left one possibility. The kanima had her.

Laura stopped when they reached the road. Both Boyd and Laura looked at each other, then back at Derek with despair struck faces.

His sister sighed, “Their scents end here. Both of them. They just get to the road and then they disappear.”

* * *

The wolves, with nothing else they could do, found themselves back at their loft in defeat.

“You seriously don’t have Deaton’s number?” Laura asked with skepticism towards Peter.

Their uncle just shrugged, “That was Talia’s problem, not mine. Plus, he may be our emissary but he’s still human. With a day job. He’s probably dead asleep right now,” he paused with a grimace. “Oof, should not use that wording right now.”

Boyd growled at him and stomped upstairs.

“Have you tried getting in touch with Stiles again?” Isaac asked Derek, his back pressed against one of the pillars that held up the roof of the apartment.

“No,” Derek said.

“You don’t think he might be useful…?”

Derek stared at a wall as his jaw ticked, “I think that if we get him more involved than he already feels like he is… then there’s a whole other problem to deal with.”

“Maybe he should know…” Isaac quietly said.

Derek sighed, “Isaac…”

“He knew about her, Derek. He knew Erica was going to get taken. Imagine if… imagine if he  _knew_. He could help us. Maybe he could find her,” Isaac slid down the pillar to sit with his knees brought to his chest.

“We’d be putting Stiles in just as much danger as the rest of us if we get him into this. Probably more.”

Laura interrupted them, “I don’t think we have much of a choice.”

Derek looked up at his alpha in surprise, “What?”

Laura looked directly into Derek’s eyes, “Stiles knows something already. He knows Erica was in trouble. And when he finds out that she’s gone... What do we tell him?”

Derek hesitated, “I… He can’t-”

“I know, Derek. I don’t want to get humans involved in this either. I can’t… _we_ can’t protect them. I know that. But, Stiles is already going to start piecing something together if we don’t give him an explanation.”

“For **fuck’s** sake just tell the boy about the supernatural!” Peter exclaimed from the other side of the room. “He should have known about us the moment we walked into Deaton’s clinic. He’s a fucking future reader. He’s not some normal human either, you dunces! If we had him actually _helping_ us, maybe we wouldn’t have lost Erica. He would have been sitting right here with his eyes in the future, or whatever he does, and he would have told us ‘Hey by the fucking way, this plan is  going to go to shit and you’re going to lose your beta so let’s not do that.’ But instead, you two are trying to protect him like he’s a little kitten that’s been washed up on your doorstep! Stop trying to be such martyrs. God. Use the tools available to you.”

Derek growled, “Stiles isn’t a tool.”

“Of course that’s what you got from all of that. Okay. You know what, lover boy? Why don’t you go and run off to your little long-lost boyfriend and hold him through the night like you did that time we lost Cora since you don’t want to do anything that actually _helps_ us.”

Derek opened his mouth to retort, but Peter interrupted him.

“Maybe if you’d told him back then, he would have realized that our house burning down meant more than just a _fire_ . Maybe he would have been like ‘Oh, Derek! My poor, poor, Derek! There’s hunters at your doorstep! You should _go home and tell your family that there are fucking hunters at your doorstep_ .’ But, here we are instead. Five years later, house burnt down, arguing over someone that could be incomprehensibly useful to us and finding Erica because you’re too busy protecting his innocence. Get over it. He’s part of this. And if you don’t want him to be so badly, then _you_ won’t be part of it either.”

Derek stared at his uncle with fiery anger in his eyes. Peter just stared back at him, challenging him with the same anger. Neither of the Hale men backed down from each other. Silently, they begged the other to give them a reason to strike.

It was Laura who broke up the stare down. She moved herself between her relatives but faced Derek. Derek glanced down at her for just a glimpse before moving his eyes back to his uncle, refusing to surrender.

“Derek,” Laura started in a quiet voice, “Peter may be a complete dickhead but he’s not entirely wrong.”

“You agreed that we wouldn’t get Stiles involved,” Derek hissed at her through his teeth.

“I know. But I think that we have to tell him. He might be our only chance.”

Derek growled at her, “Mom was so against telling _anyone_ about what we were.”

Laura scoffed, “Yeah, and you told three people and had them turned at the same time. So…”

Derek clenched his jaw in anger at that point. Peter lifted an eyebrow at him with a smug smirk before Derek finally relented and made eye contact with his sister instead.

Derek said, “I don’t want to turn Stiles.”

Laura let out a sigh of relief, “We don’t have to. Unless he wants to be. But, he’s our best bet. Human or not.”

Derek grimly nodded, looking down to the ground as Laura walked up and attempted to wrap her arms around him. He gently pushed himself away from her reach and walked around her instead. Derek ignored any looks he might have received and made his way upstairs instead.

As he walked into his room, he made note of the muffled sobs that came from Erica and Boyd’s room. He felt bad, but he left Boyd alone. If anyone knew what it felt like to want to let your emotions out alone, it was Derek.

* * *

 

Derek woke up early in the morning. His phone read five-thirty in the morning. _Not even six hours of sleep..._

He shook himself out of the sleepy haze he was in so that he could drag himself out of bed. He ran a hand over his face as he attempted to the brush the mucus away from his eyes. Derek knew he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep. Not with everything that’s happened.

Despite the full moon being last night, he still felt the effects coursing through him. He gathered himself just enough in order to take a shower. The feeling of the water pouring over his body did little to calm him. If anything, it just reminded him that he’d reached a new day. One without Erica.

Derek dressed himself in a plain set of clothes. It was still only six in the morning, and none of the other wolves were awake. He thought about eating, but his stomach turned in knots at the idea. There was only one thing he felt he could do. There was one thing he _had_ to do.

He grabbed the keys for his camaro off his bedside stand before making his way downstairs. He felt relief that he was greeted by the empty living room. He didn’t want any of the wolves to see him as he left.

The steel door opening slid open to give Derek space to leave the building. He got in his car and took a deep breath.

He had to find out if there was anything they missed by their house.

* * *

The drive to the old Hale estate was one filled with anxiety and anticipation. The kanima should be gone by now that the full moon was gone, but that didn’t stop Derek from wondering if it was starting to break its pattern seeing as it took Erica with it rather than tore her open like the others.

Derek parked on the road rather than taking his car into the forest. If he followed the track from the house towards the road again, he’d just be back at his car anyway. It was easier this way.

The wolf stepped out of his car, looking around his surroundings to make sure no one else was in the vicinity. The sun was starting to rise now. It peeked over the horizon. Derek felt a bit safer with it lighting his path.

The smells of the night before were hazy and dwindling now, but it was still enough that Derek could track whatever was left. The most important thing was that he could still smell Erica. Her scent came easier and stronger to him thanks to her being his pack, but being separated for so long weakened it more than it usually would.

As Derek found his way through trail, he kept his eyes darting around the area. He looked for anything that may be out of place. As far as he could tell, nothing had been misplaced. Derek wondered just how much of a struggle Erica put up. He knew that she drew blood from the kanima, but the path leading out held nothing that would indicate a struggle. There were no claw marks on any trees, or even broken branches. It was far too simple, especially for someone as wild as Erica.

Once Derek finally began to reach the end of the trail, he did find something that wasn’t supposed to be there. A jeep that was beat up so much, Derek wondered how it even functioned. He could see duct tape wrapped around certain parts of the exterior. It was Stiles’s. Derek could recognize it immediately. He was surprised it survived the last five years.

But, what he was more surprised about was the fact that Stiles was here. He looked around the jeep and through the windows, only to find the space empty. He looked ahead of the path towards his estate only to, again, find that Stiles was nowhere to be seen. With caution, Derek steadily began moving forward towards his childhood home in search of the dotted boy.

Derek sniffed the air and found that he could still smell the boy in the vicinity, though it was all around him. Stiles must have been walking around the entire area at some point rather than bee-lining to a specific point. Derek slowly made his way up the steps of the ruined estate. Then, he moved forward through the doorway.

He only took one step through the doorway before a figure swiftly moved in front of him. Derek immediately retaliated, grabbing the body in front of him by shoulders and slamming it into the wall to his right. He pressed one forearm against the humanoid’s chest to keep it from moving as he raised a fist. It was then that he got a good look at the figure’s face, recognizing Stiles’s surprised face.

Derek growled at him, “Stiles.”

Stiles’s face lit up red as his hands came up in a form of surrender. He looked like he was in slight pain, probably from being slammed into the wall, but otherwise completely untouched.

“Fancy seeing you here, big guy…” Stiles laughed awkwardly, lowering his hands.

“What are you doing here? At six AM?” Derek asked, not lowering his arm from Stiles’s chest.

“Hah… Uh… Funny story there, seriously.”

Derek just stared at him.

“Yeah… uh… so, I don’t know if you know or not but there’s been an abundance of murders here. The place is probably haunted for sure by now but… anyway,” Stiles looked anywhere but Derek’s face as he continued. “I’ve realized that it’s every full moon. Dad doesn’t listen to me. He says it’s just coincidence and that I shouldn’t be listening to the police scanner anymore. But, I saw the pattern. With what happened last night… the vision I had. Before it was reported I wanted to… I had to see if…” he looked to the floor.

“You wanted to see if Erica’s body was here.” Derek said bluntly.

“Is she… She’s okay? Her body isn’t here so I’ve been kind of hopeful that…”

“She’s missing.”

Stiles looked up to meet his eyes with shock, “Missing?”

Derek nodded, finally taking his arm away from Stiles’s chest. Stiles rubbed his chest with a look of discomfort on his face but he kept his back pressed to the wall.

“My vision came true then… I tried to get to you in time but I was late. I’m sorry.”

Derek frowned, pressing his back against the wall behind him, “What did you see?”

Stiles bit his lip, crossing his arms over his abdomen. He looked uncomfortable, but he responded anyway, “It was weird. I just saw Erica standing in front of the house. She looked so… nervous. Like she knew something was wrong, or she wasn’t supposed to be here. Then she… howled,” Stiles shook his head like he was confused at his own statement. “I was pulled out of it after that. But, I had a huge feeling that something was wrong. That she was in trouble. So I called you because… that’s all I knew to do. After you answered, it was pretty much a blur. I think I passed out mid-conversation.”

Derek nodded to himself as he listened to Stiles. They made eye contact again, and Derek was reminded of their last encounter. This was the most they’d talked in years. It was weird.

Derek took the silence as an excuse to examine Stiles more closely. He dressed as casually as Derek remembered him to as a teen. Right now, he wore a black t-shirt with some white Japanese lettering on it along with plain grey sweatpants on. He’d probably thrown the outfit on just to visit this site.

Stiles broke the silence himself with a quiet voice, “You know, I’m sorry about what happened. The fire. I’m sorry for not telling you.”

Derek looked back up to see Stiles’s face, but Stiles wasn’t making eye contact with him. The lean boy looked away with a guilty expression on his face instead. On instinct, Derek wanted to toss the conversation away. Walk away even. But instead, he said “Why didn’t you?”

Stiles winced as if the words physically hurt him. There was a long silence before Stiles responded, “I was stupid.”

“What?”

“I was stupid. I was a kid.” Stiles laughed in a self-decrepitating voice. “I wish I had a better reason, really.”

Derek stared at him in disbelief, “That’s it? That’s your reason? That you were just stupid?”

“I-” Stiles sighed. “It’s hard to explain. My… visions… they aren’t always easy to understand. I knew that if you left that night and went home, I’d never see you again. So, I asked you to stay. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

“What do you mean that you were never going to see me again?”

“I don’t know. It was probably the fact that you were moving. Some of me thought it meant that if you went home you’d die, or something. I thought I was doing something _good_. But, I realized the next day when you said you were skipping school that the vision was still in effect. Once you left… I wasn’t going to see you again. So I tried to keep you around for as long as I could. It was selfish. I fucked up.”

There was another silence between them that seemed to last for a lifetime.

Derek broke it this time, “Could you have done something to stop it?”

Stiles looked up to him with questioning look, “What?”

Derek pressed on, “You said at the arcade that you knew I couldn’t have done anything to change it. Was that true?”

“As far as I could tell at that time, yes,” Stiles said with full assurance in his answer. “I couldn’t tell you how the fire started, or anything of that nature. So if I told you there was a fire… it would have been too late. If anything, you might have only gotten hurt. Laura told me how the family escaped through a… ‘secret passage’? I should have told you to turn on your phone or to go the next morning, anyway.”

Derek took a second to take in the answer. It surprised him that Stiles took such utter responsibility for his own actions. He was right. It was stupid of him to hold the information from Derek. But, they all made mistakes when they were younger. Stiles was sixteen. If this was how Stiles handled the guilt, Derek felt like he could trust him again.

Derek went to open his mouth and respond but was caught off guard by a sound outside. A tree branch snapped to the north, the same direction as Stiles’s jeep. Derek frowned, walking towards Stiles and grabbing his arm to pull him deeper into the house.

Stiles didn’t resist the movement, but still opened his mouth in protest, “He-”

Derek put his hand over the smaller boy’s mouth as he moved them towards the stairs that still stood despite the fire. There was a space beneath them that Derek had hid under as a kid that he knew they could place themselves in.

He lowered himself into the space before dragging Stiles down with him. It was a tight squeeze for both of them to fit completely in the shadows, but with Stiles between Derek’s legs and pressed against his chest, he could manage it.

Derek raised his free hand to his own lips, quietly uttering _Shhh_ to the boy.

It was hard to see Stiles in the darkness that the space provided, but from the way the boy squirmed he could tell he wasn’t comfortable. Derek raised his hand off of the boy’s mouth, silently praying he wouldn’t scream.

“If you want to kill me you really did _not_  have to pull me into this scary ass space to make it even more horror movie-esque,” Stiles quietly hissed.

Derek whispered back, “Shut up, Stiles.”

“What even is the point of thi-”

Derek raised his hand back over Stiles’s mouth threateningly, “Stiles.”

Stiles pushed his hand away, “Fine. Shutting up.”

Together, they sat in silence. Derek listened for more sounds as Stiles grew more and more impatient. The dotted boy eventually began picking at Derek’s pant leg in an effort to distract himself. Derek swatted at his hand multiple times before he just allowed the boy to play with his jeans.

It took a few minutes for something to finally happened. The sound of footsteps up the patio steps echoed in the silence. Stiles stopped playing with Derek’s leg when he heard them, his body suddenly tensing. Derek subconsciously held him more protectively.

The footsteps sounded as if they were made by heavy boots. They came closer through the front door, then they moved to the right. Derek knew that whoever it was had moved into his old living room. There was only one person inside the house for now, but there might be more outside. Derek thought it to be safer for them to just stay still. As long as they didn’t find him and Stiles, they wouldn’t be cornered.

The two of them listened as the footsteps stopped in the living room, then they began moving again towards the kitchen. The person explored the the entirety of the first floor before it moved towards the stairs. Stiles took in a tense breath, pressing closer to Derek. Derek’s fists clenched but he held Stiles tighter against him as they prepared themselves. The steps stopped right beside the stairs and Derek feared that the person would actually find them.

A man’s voice boomed from the entrance of the house, “Find him?”

A very familiar, feminine voice responded right beside them, “There’s no body. Maybe it dragged his body away?”

Stiles jumped at the sound of the voice. He recognized it too.

“Has Scott responded yet?” The male asked.

“No. I’m worried. Why would Stiles be here? He knows it’s dangerous out here.”

Stiles’s hand wrapped around Derek’s calf for support. They saw his jeep. They knew he was here.

“Well, maybe Scott’s talked to him since last night. If there’s no body, maybe he escaped?”

“The other bodies have all been full grown wolves. I don’t think that a human with no training is going to get away that easily, dad.”

“You underestimate the instinct to survive, Allison.”

Allison scoffed, walking back towards the entrance, “Well we heard the howls last night. You don’t think the wolves scared it away? Maybe they killed each other and Stiles escaped because of it.”

“We would have heard them fighting. And I don’t think the Hales would have any chance against that thing.”

Their voices faded as they walked out of the house. Stiles was breathing heavily as if he were about to have a panic attack. A lot of information had been divulged in that small conversation. A lot that Stiles didn’t know beforehand.

Derek waited until he didn’t hear footsteps anymore, and then for another few minutes after before he gently released Stiles. Stiles immediately took the chance to pull himself out of his grasp and out of the stairway. Derek followed after him more slowly, cautiously. Stiles stared at the doorway in shock.

“What… the fuck is Allison and Chris Argent doing at your house? And what the fuck were they talking about? Derek?” He looked back the taller man, demanding answers.

Derek simply answered, “We need to talk.”

* * *

“There’s a lot I haven’t told you,” Derek started.

Stiles huffed with grim laughter, “Yeah. Apparently you and other people.”

“It’s for your protection, Stiles,” The wolf insisted.

“Yeah. Thanks. What are you gonna say? That you and your family are some mafia group and the Argents are your competitors or some shit?”

“It’s much more complicated than that.”

Stiles threw his hands up, “Well I am all ears. Lay it on me.”

Derek paused. He didn’t know how to say it. How was he supposed to tell Stiles that he was a monster? What would it change? Would Stiles accept it? Would he run in fear? Would he tell his father and force his pack out of the city again?

“Come on, Derek. I’m sure it can’t really be _that_   bad… right?” Stiles looked at him with concerned curiosity.

“Do you… believe in the supernatural?” Derek asked cautiously.

“Like ghosts?”

“No, not paranormal. Supernatural.”

“Um… like… vampires?”

Derek nodded.

“I don’t… think so? I mean I guess it would be cool if they existed. I’d be a pretty badass vampire, I think.”

Derek stared at him for a few seconds before he decided to just go for it. There wasn’t an easy way to do it. He flashed his eyes their golden beta color.

Stiles jumped back, laughing nervously, “Oh shit! Oh! Cool. Where do you get contacts that change color on demand?”

Derek frowned at him as he allowed his claws to extend from his hand, holding it up to show Stiles.

“Oh… cool… you even have… prosthetics…” Stiles said in a disbelieving voice. He looked like he was trying to convince himself more than actually admire Derek.

Derek sighed and went into full beta shift. He’d rather Stiles had accepted it before he had to show him his most monstrous form, but the boy was stubbornly trying to ignore the truth.

Stiles stared at him in shock as his features grew more and more wolf like. When the transformation was complete, neither of them said anything. Stiles eventually, slowly, began walking towards Derek. Derek frowned at him as he watched the dotted boy approach. Gently, Stiles placed his hands on the sides of Derek’s face. He ran his hands through the newly grown sideburns. Then he moved his fingers towards the extended width of the bridge of his nose. He felt around his features in awe as Derek stared down at him with golden eyes.

Then, Stiles’s hands moved up to Derek’s newly pointed ears. He felt up to their points before he pressed two fingers together and pulled at them. Derek growled as he winced back from the sensation.

“Yeah, totally not prosthetics,” Stiles laughed as he pulled away. He examined Derek’s face with awe. “So you’re like…”

Derek finished for him “A werewolf.”

Stiles let out a tiny whistle as he shook his head, “This is crazy.”

Derek nodded.

There was another silence that fell between them before Stiles broke it.

“So… what does that make the Argents? Wait. Are they vampires? I bet they’re vampires. Victoria is _totally_ the type to suck your blood and then rip out your heart. I bet they have blood bags in their fridge, I never looked,” Stiles gasped as if he’d just thought of something revolutionary, “They **_are_ **   vampires. One time, Scott told me that while he and Allison were having sex, total TMI by the way, that Allison bit his neck too hard and drew blood. He said it hurt like a bitch but she was kind of into it or something. I bet she was _drinking his blood._ Oh my god. This is crazy. I have to save my bestie from marrying that _DEMON_. No offense to you, obviously, werewolves are like the cooler ones I think. I mean, I saw Twilight one time and they were kind of weird cause they turned into full wolves and all but you didn’t do that so-”

“Stiles.”

“Huh?”

Derek allowed his beta features to recede back into his human form. “The Argents are not vampires.”

“What?! That’s stupid. I was so hoping to be in the middle of some badass vampire versus werewolf battle. I was totally about to be the Bella of this story,” Stiles sighed in annoyance before he lifted his head with a questioning look, “So then what are they?”

Derek simply answered, “Hunters.”

Stiles’s eyes widened in realization, “Oh… so that’s why… back in high school…”

“The Argents killed my dad,” Derek confessed. “That’s why Erica was so angry that Allison was there.”

“That’s why you were having a panic attack…” Stiles said, his eyes changing from realization to understanding and sadness. “I’m sorry. It probably didn’t help with Scott getting so close to her.”

“It’s whatever. I should have assumed they’d bring Allison into the family business.”

“I’d never have guessed. They don’t have anything on display in their house or anything crazy. I didn’t even know Chris was capable of that kind of thing. Victoria I can believe.”

“What about Kate?”

Stiles bit his lip at her name, looking at Derek, “I don’t… talk to Kate.”

“Why? Did she do something to you?” Derek suddenly got concerned. If Kate hurt Stiles, Derek would personally seek her out and rip her throat out right now.

“No, no. Calm down, dude,” Stiles laughed. “She’s just… scary. Her and Chris don’t get along that well so she’s not usually around unless she decides to crash whatever’s going on. Chris kinda keeps his little family separate from Gerard and Kate as much as he can. Scott says that Gerard is the scariest of them all. But Allison is his innocent little princess so he deals with it. If only he knew what she really was…”

Derek sighed in a small bit of relief. It was good that Kate was seemingly estranged from the immediate Argent family. That meant they weren’t at their full power.

“So you’re not… you don’t think it’s ok that she hunts us?” Derek asked, almost insecurely. He half-expected Stiles to believe he _was_ a monster and that hunting them all out was the best case scenario.

“Dude, seriously? I’m angry that you’re even asking me that question. They murdered your _dad_. Just because you’re a werewolf doesn’t make you evil. Unless it does. I know that in some video games they totally make all werewolves evil. But I don’t think that’s you. Or anyone… else? How many of you are there?”

“My family, Isaac, Erica, and Boyd.”

“Oh. So everyone you talked to except for me. I should have expected that. I never really got to meet your family other than Laura and Cora but they seemed nice so… I can’t say you guys are evil. But, I _do_ know that: One, Gerard and Kate are terrifying people. Two, they murdered your dad. Three, when Allison was in here she seemed like she wasn’t worried about your lives at all. They even said they heard you all. They _knew_ someone was going to die here, but they didn’t even try to help. So, I think that in all scenarios so far, you’ve shown to be the good guys of this.”

Derek nodded slowly, “Thank you,” he said. He was completely grateful that Stiles truly saw him as more than just his supernatural side. Most others wouldn’t do the same.

Just as Stiles was about to say something else, Derek’s phone rang. He looked at the caller ID, seeing that it was his sister. He also noticed the time. It was now eight in the morning. It had been two hours since he arrived. He answered the phone.

Laura’s voice immediately came through the speaker in a booming volume “Where are you?!”

Derek pulled the phone away from his ear as her voice came through, avoiding the full brunt of the volume, “I’m at the old estate,” he said.

“ **What?! Alone?!** Are you insane? I swear I’m going to kill you,” his sister’s voice frantically came through the phone. Derek could hear her shuffling on the other side, probably to get something on in order to come meet him.

“No. Not alone. Stiles is here.”

“ **WHAT?!”** The shuffling stopped. “What is he doing there?! Did you take him there? Why would you take him there?! Did you tell him about us being wolves? Why would you take him _there_ to tell him? He’s probably scared to death that you’re going to kill him! God. You’re such a serial killer.”

Stiles called out in front of Derek, “Hi, Laura!”

“Oh he’s alive. Wonderful. But did you tell him about us? Answer me, Derek.”

“She says hi,” Derek said to Stiles, making him smile.

“I did not.”

Derek continued, “Yes he knows. He took it pretty well. I have a lot to tell you.”

“Oh wonderful. Well _both_ of you can meet us at Deaton’s.”

“Already?” Derek asked in surprise.

“His clinic opens at eight. So we’re going to be his first customers. Hurry your ass up, I don’t want to be waiting long.”

With that, Laura hung up the phone. Derek sighed, putting the phone in his pocket.

“Do you have anywhere you need to be?”

“Uh… I have a night class at six, but that’s it for today.”

“You took a night class?”

“I was late to register my classes so I had to go with whatever was left.”

Derek shook his head as he turned and began walking out of the house, “Well, I have to meet the pack at Deaton’s clinic. They want you to be there, if you want to be.”

“The pack?” Stiles followed behind him. “How wolfy of you to call yourselves that.”

Derek looked back at him before he stopped and turned to him. Stiles stopped, curiously looking at Derek.

“Listen, Stiles, before you go any further with any of this…” Derek started with a serious tone. “This is dangerous. _We_ are dangerous. Those hunters know you were here. They don’t know you know about us, but Allison knows that we were close at one point. It would be in your best interest to leave. You would be safer if you went home now and pretend this never happened.”

Stiles looked up at Derek with a small smile on his face, “Der… do you really think I’d be able to do that?”

“I don’t-” Derek sighed. “You can get hurt. You could die. My dad died. My cousins, my pack. They died trying to avenge him. One of my closest friends is missing now, possibly dead. This is the life we live. I don’t want you to get involved and for you to… you don’t deserve to be brought into this.”

Stiles walked up to Derek, placing a hand on his shoulder and looking him in the eyes, “If I go home now, I’ll just get involved by myself. I’d never be able to rest knowing that all of this is going on and I’m not helping. And I’d much rather be helping when I have you to watch my back.”

Derek frowned at him, “What if I can’t always protect you?”

 

“Don’t worry, big guy. We’ll protect each other from now on.”


	11. I See Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting at Deaton's reveals a lot more than Derek and Stiles could ever expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I am super proud of this chapter and so, so excited to share it with you all! 
> 
> As always, if you care to keep up with me, here is my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/rosethornfics)
> 
> (Spoilers in the end notes!)

Derek and Stiles rode in their separate cars to drive to Deaton’s clinic. Despite Stiles’s lax response and reaction towards Derek’s reveal, he still felt nervous about how Stiles truly felt. There was no way that it was easy to hear such a surprising remark. Yet Stiles showed no signs of fear. Maybe he didn’t understand what he was truly getting himself into.

* * *

The wolf and the dotted boy pulled up to the clinic at the same time. Derek saw both his sister’s and Boyd’s rental cars in front of the clinic. Stiles hopped out of jeep as Derek removed himself from his car. Derek watched as the smaller boy walked towards him rather than the clinic entrance with a hint of anxiety on his face.

“Wait, are they inside?” Stiles asked, looking back at the empty cars that Derek’s family had left.

“Where else would they be?” Derek asked.

“Um… I thought this was just like, the parking spot. And then you guys would like run off discreetly to a different place or something. It’s kinda weird to meet at a vet’s clinic, don’t you think? Deaton’s probably super weirded out by it.”

“Deaton’s our emissary.”

Stiles turned a dumbfounded face to Derek, “Huh.”

“Deaton’s ou-”

Stiles interrupted him, “I  _ heard  _ you! But what’s an emissary?”

“They’re beacons of knowledge and a wolf pack’s connection to the human world. Alan Deaton has been the Hale pack emissary since before I was born,” Derek explained. “I thought you’d have assumed he was a part of everything since we all just showed up at the clinic the other night with no explanation… or pet.”

“I thought maybe he was just a family friend that you all wanted to visit or it was like, his birthday or something!” Stiles exclaimed.

Derek shook his head as he walked ahead of Stiles towards the clinic, “Come on. They can hear us out here.”

Stiles choked on a breath, “They can  _ what _ ?!”

Derek looked back at the human with a raised eyebrow,“Wolf hearing, Stiles… your video games don’t incorporate that?”

“No, my games incorporate blood rituals and crazed full moons,” As Derek opened the door to the clinic, Stiles gasped. “There was a full moon last night! Woah. Does the full moon give you extra powers or something? Like you turn into a…  _ super wolf _ . Or does it make you go insane and you have to stop yourself from thinking of eating a human and submerging into your animalistic sins…”

“I’m about to eat  _ you _ if you don’t shut up.”

“Do it. You won’t,” Stiles challenged.

Derek stopped in his tracks, turning around to face Stiles as his fangs extended. Stiles leaped back in fear before he quickly caught himself and glared at Derek, challenging him again. The wolf, however, felt enough satisfaction in Stiles’s initial leap of fear and allowed his fangs to recede back into his canines. He quirked a brow at Stiles as a silent tease.

Peter’s voice rang out from the door that separated the waiting room from the operating room,“If you two are done flirting out here — we’ve been waiting.”

Stiles’s face lit up immediately as Derek turned a hard glare on his uncle. Peter stared right back at him before he shrugged and turned back into the room. “They’re coming,” he announced.

Derek sighed as he glanced back at Stiles, then he made his way towards the operating room.

“Told you you wouldn’t…” Stiles muttered under his breath.

Derek quietly scoffed, “I heard that.”

“Just testing out your hearing, wolverine.”

* * *

As the two boys walked into the operating room of the clinic, they were met with the stares of Derek’s entire pack besides Erica and Deaton. Derek met all of their stares with a glare, causing them to look away. Stiles awkwardly walked from behind the burly wolf and made his presence known with a salute to Deaton.

The worst part of the being in the clinic was the operating room. It smelt so overpoweringly of chemicals and medicine. It was a suffocating room to be in, but it was the most secretive. At least it was the morning when they had met, so Derek couldn’t smell the residue of one of Deaton’s leftover patients or the cleaning products he’d used to clean the area they’d left behind. 

“Nice of you to finally join us,” Laura said to the two late arrivals.

Derek frowned at her, “We got here as quickly as our cars would take us.”

“With Stiles’s jeep, I can understand why it took forever,” Isaac teased towards the dotted boy.

Stiles gaped at the insult, “Hey! I’ll have you know my jeep is doing  _ just _ fine.”

“You know we can hear you lie, right?” Isaac asked, grinning. 

Stiles tilted his head in shock, “You can who- what now?”

“Wolf hearing, Stiles,” Derek explained again.

“That doesn’t help! How does that even work!”

“Your heart ticks when you lie.”

“So you’re all walking lie detectors?”

Derek nodded.

Stiles huffed, “Okay now this is just bullshit.”

Peter interrupted them once again, “Children, if you’d all like to stop playing around, we’re here on business and we’re wasting mister Deaton’s precious time.”

All of the wolves glared at him as Deaton finally broke his silence, “Thank you, Peter. Hello, Stiles.”

Stiles awkwardly waved, “Hi, Dr. Deaton. This is kinda weird, huh.”

“It could be considered to be weird, yes,” Deaton smiled at him.

“Scott doesn’t know right? He totally would have spilled the beans to me if he knew.”

“No, Scott does not know. And it would be in the best interest of both of you that he does not know about anything that transpires here or anything that surrounds these topics. It would put him in quite a precarious situation and threaten his immediate safety.”

Stiles slowly nodded, “I kind of gathered that the minute I heard his fiancé wishing the Hales died last night.”

Everyone turned their eyes on him.

Laura growled, “She…  _ what _ ?”

Stiles jumped closer to Derek in fear. There was a selfish part inside of Derek that enjoyed the fact that Stiles’s instinct when threatened was to find himself at his side. Wait. He shouldn’t think that way. He still doesn’t know if Stiles still sees him the same way as his teenage self used to. Or if he was dating someone. Why hadn’t he thought of this before? Stiles easily could have fallen in love since they were younger. Derek was only a crush anyway. Maybe he was with someone now? Derek came out of his thoughts to Stiles finishing a recount of what they’d seen at the estate.

“... and that was all, really. I don’t know if she planned on checking that spot but we got away unscathed so that’s the good news, I guess.”

“So, Allison really is a…” Isaac hesitated, looking over at Stiles with concern.

“I already told him about the Argents,” Derek assured him.

Stiles looked at the tall wolf, “They’re hunters, right?”

Isaac nodded.

Deaton frowned in thought, “The fact that she has such a cynical view of you all… I fear the worst for her surroundings. Scott only describes her as the kindest heart he could ever imagine.”

“Allison is incredibly kind. I could never imagine her to even… hurt anyone else. Much less kill them,” Stiles said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he crossed his arms. “She’s incredible. But I guess… people have to do crazy things to hide what they are.”

They all sat in uneasy silence after that. Derek was reminded that they had moved across the country for five years just to hide themselves. How his mother had effectively cut off their friendships in order to hide themselves, not allowing anyone near or inside their home. He wondered how much more like him were forced to do the same, or how many had failed. He wondered where they were.

“Well, while it’s wonderful that we know the Argents are involved further in this, it doesn’t solve our worst problem,” Peter said. “Our priorities lie with finding Erica and neutralizing the kanima.”

“The what?” Stiles asked, confused. Derek had never filled him in on that part yet.

“The kanima,” Deaton answered. “It’s a reptilian shifter who follows the orders of a master. That’s the culprit of the full moon murders.”

“A  _ reptile _ ?! Derek never told me those things existed!”

Derek grumbled, “We didn’t exactly have time for a history lesson on shifters.”

“Will we have time later?” Stiles asked hopefully, looking over and up at Derek with innocent doe eyes. 

Derek glared at him, “Just pay attention to the information you’re told right now, Stiles.”

Stiles huffed at him, but turned his attention back to Deaton, “So they really were never animal attacks at all? I knew it was suspicious…”

“I’m sure the police department wants to ride that excuse into the ground as they have no idea what else it could be with the claw marks it leaves on its victims. Your father has come to my desk desperate for answers many of times. It saddens me having to lie in order to protect him, but thankfully he took my expertise to heart rather than investigate on his own — the way his son did this morning.”

Stiles blushed in embarrassment but changed the subject away from himself immediately, “So what else does it do? Is it just like… a werewolf with a lizard tail?”

Deaton spent the next few minutes explaining the differences between werewolf and kanima biology and physiology. He explained the different ways their minds were wired and how much further the kanima was from their human side. Deaton told Stiles that even if they found out who the kanima was behind the shift, they might not even know what they are. That was how far from themselves they could be. He finally explained how kanima venom worked and its effects on the body which helped the kanima kill its victims without a fight.

“It… paralyzes them?” Stiles asked for confirmation.

Deaton nodded, “Yes. The venom doesn’t necessarily kill them itself, if the kanima leaves it behind.”

Stiles stood in contemplative thought for awhile after that as the wolves stared at him. He looked like he was realizing something as the information was fed to him.

“What are you thinking?” Derek asked him.

“Melissa, Scott’s mom, she works at the hospital. Over the past few years she’s been talking about these weird incidents where teenagers have been arriving to the hospital panicking about their body going numb after they were pricked with something,” Stiles said quietly. “When I asked her about it, she said that all she or anyone else could find was a scratch or at most a puncture wound. They weren’t paralyzed when they came into the hospital, obviously, unless someone else had found their body before it wore off. But, blood tests came back completely normal. It’s been racking her brain for a long time. She thinks that there’s a new drug trend going around. She suspected trafficking attempts but… I think this might be the real reason.”

“Why haven’t we heard about this before?” Laura asked, aiming the question at Deaton.

Deaton simply stared back at her, “Because I hadn’t known about it. The hospital doesn’t correspond all of its worries to a vet. I only know what I know.”

“Melissa told my dad about it but there’s not much he can do. As far as they know, there’s no connection to a certain group of people. They’re just all teens.”

Laura frowned, tapping her foot on the ground in agitation, “So, this thing is active outside of the full moon. But, it doesn’t kill outside of it?”

“Remember that the kanima follows orders. It doesn’t act on its own free will. It won’t kill unless explicitly told to do so,” Deaton explained.

“So whoever is controlling it wants to send a message…” Stiles said, frowning at the ground. “Is it… is it out of the question that an Argent would be controlling it?” he asked the room.

Derek had never thought of that for some reason. What’s stopping the hunters from controlling a monster to do their bidding? There was a contemplative silence after that. Their emissary was the one to break it.

“It would be completely out of character for any hunter to take control of a supernatural creature to commit acts of violence on innocents. There’s a code that they follow to prevent that.”

“That didn’t stop them before,” Laura said with anger.

“No. It didn’t. I don’t know the Argents well. But, I do know that the murders have only occured by the hands of the kanima for the last five years. The Argents cannot be held accountable for any of them without evidence that they’re involved. Allison and Chris seemed to have been investigating this morning, so the chances of them creating an entire charade to pretend they didn’t know what the creature was or who it was just in case they were being eavesdropped on does not seem likely.”

Derek sighed in frustration. None of this helped. None of it got them any closer to the answer. They were only eliminating suspects rather than finding new ones. He hated it. He wished that it were as easy as the villains in the stories. The ones that showed up at your front door and taunted you that they were your enemy until you defeated them. Why couldn’t the kanima just do that?

* * *

Just then, the bell that signaled a customer’s arrival rang through the store. Derek froze. Had his wish actually come true? Was the kanima coming to reveal itself? No. There was no way this could be that convenient.

“If you all would excuse me, it seems I have a patient,” Deaton said as he squeezed himself out of the room. Derek listened as his footsteps moved to the end of the hall to his desk in the front.

“Who the hell-” Stiles started to say, but received a quick and quiet  _ SHH  _ from all of the wolves as they intently listened to the conversation that might happen at the front desk. Stiles looked at all of them, realizing what they were doing. He leaned up towards Derek’s ear with a frown on his face before he said “You’d better tell me everything going on, this isn’t fair.”

Derek just raised his eyebrow at him, then he raised a finger to his lips causing Stiles to huff in annoyance.

From the front of the clinic, Derek could hear Deaton greet his new arrival.

“Christopher Argent! To what do I owe the pleasure?” Deaton said, feigning innocence.

“You know why I’m here, Deaton. The Hales have returned to Beacon Hills, haven’t they?” Chris Argent said in a gruff voice.

Derek hadn’t known Chris that well. He’d met him twice when Derek and Kate were ‘dating’. Derek had gotten the immediate idea that Chris didn’t like him or at least didn’t want to know him. He’d probably known of what he was and wanted no part in knowing a ‘monster’.

Deaton responded, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Christopher.” 

“I need to know if they’re here, Alan. You know that information about creatures in the area come directly to me.”

“With all due respect, whether the Hale pack has returned or not would be none of your business regardless. This is just as much their territory as it is yours, and they’re known to be peaceful.”

There was a tense silence between the two men then. Derek took the opportunity to relay the conversation to Stiles.

Derek heard Chris sigh, “There wasn’t a death last night during the full moon as far as we know. This is the first time in five years. If the Hales were somehow part of that, I want to know.”

“If I learn anything, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

“I know you’re holding them here, Alan. Their cars are parked right outside.”

Derek could feel the stare down between the men. Deaton must really care about the pack if he would lie so obviously for them. Chris knew that Deaton was their source of information, but the emissary wouldn’t budge an inch of anything he knew about them. He wondered if he’d ever helped the Argents before. Again, Derek took the silence between them to relay the conversation to Stiles. 

Stiles frowned in contemplative thought as he listened to Derek. He looked around the room for a second, fixing his attention on a cabinet full of pill bottles. Stiles gingerly walked up to the fixture and opened it up, grabbing a random bottle from inside and closing the cabinet without trying to be discreet.

Derek’s eyes widened in surprise. Was Stiles crazy?! Why would he give it away that they were back here? When Stiles met his eyes, he just waved his hand towards him to say ‘Don’t worry’ and left the operating room. Derek, in his shock, hadn’t reached him in time to stop him.

“Sorry, Deaton, you were taking forever. Are these the pills I’m supposed to give him?” Stiles said with an airy tone of innocence.

Derek was shocked at the delivery of the sentence. He never knew Stiles was able to lie on the spot that way.

Deaton seemingly fell right into the act, “What? Stiles, I told you not to touch anything unless I’m there.” 

“Dude, I can’t help it. There’s just so much to see back there. Oh! Hey, Mr. Argent. I didn’t notice you were the customer. Did you hit a dog or something?”

Chris took a second to respond. The hunter had initially seemed to believe the boy to be the victim of the kanima attack last night. He must have been trying to gauge what exactly Stiles truly was in this situation.

“I just came to have a friendly chat with Dr. Deaton,” Chris carefully replied.

Stiles feigned ignorance, “Oh, I had no idea you guys were friends. I guess that’s not surprising.”

“What are  _ you _ doing here, Stiles?” Chris turned the question on him, sounding much more like an interrogation than curiosity. 

“I have to pick up some meds for a stray that we found this morning. Someone called the department when they were on their morning jog about a dog looking really weak in the woods. Dad sent me out to take care of it, since it wasn’t a huge deal,” Stiles easily lied. Somehow, he’d managed to not only create an excuse for his presence at the clinic but also an excuse for why his car was in front of Derek’s house. He didn’t know how Stiles managed to come up with a lie so easily that was so well rounded, but he did an amazing job at it.

“I didn’t know the police handled animal incidents,” Chris said in a somewhat accusing tone.

“Who did you think did it? Pest control? The fire department? When people don’t know what to do, they panic and call the cops. It’s not a big deal to send someone out to pick up a dog to bring to a shelter or to the vet,” Stiles shot back. He must have picked up on the accusation and defended his lie with fire.

“Well,” Chris said after a tense moment, “I hope he makes a full recovery.”

“Thanks,” Stiles bit back.

“Sorry to cut this short, Christopher, but I need to finish up this appointment,” Deaton said, diffusing the situation. 

“Yeah, of course. It was about time I leave, anyway. Tell Scott I said hi, Allison hasn’t been able to get a hold of him yet today.”

“It’s like, nine in the morning. He won’t be up for at least another two hours. She should know his sleep schedule by now,” Stiles said. Derek didn’t know if it was accidental sass or not.

Chris seemingly didn’t respond, at least not verbally, and left the clinic. Together, Deaton and Stiles came back to the operating room.

All of the wolves glared directly at Stiles, causing him to sheepishly lower his head. Derek was the one to scold him though.

“Don’t do things like that without going through me first,” he said sternly.

“Oh, I have to ask you for permission now?” Stiles asked, an eyebrow raised at Derek in question. Before Derek could respond, the lean boy kept going, “I don’t think so, wolf boy. I can handle myself just fine.”

Derek growled, “You just found out about all of this. Don’t act cocky already.”

Stiles just shrugged at him, “I can’t get dependent on you. Who knows if you all are just gonna disappear for another five years again.”

Derek frowned at him. He hadn’t been able to come up with a response to that.

“Dangerous or not, it was helpful. It was smart of you to cover up your appearance in the forest this morning as well,” Deaton said.

Isaac perked up, “Yeah, where did you learn to lie like that?”

Stiles grinned, “The sheriff of Beacon Hills is my dad. Once you learn to lie to him, you can lie to anyone.”

Laura nodded towards him, “Impressive.”

Stiles grinned at the praise. Derek still felt upset that Stiles would put himself into danger so openly, but he would let him have this success. Just this once.

“So, now that all the explanations and hunters are over, how do we go about finding Erica?” Boyd said, finally speaking up in the room.

“Well, we were hoping our new friend would be able to help us with that,” Peter said, turning a devilish smile on Stiles. It looked like he was  _ attempting _ to show innocence, but it just made him look more devious.

“Me?” Stiles asked, pointing to himself.

“You’re the one that warned us of her fate, so we were hoping you’d be able to… look into the future and figure out where she’s being held,” Peter explained.

“Look into the future?” Deaton asked, confused.

“That’s not how it works. I don’t control it,” Stiles said.

Peter scoffed in disbelief, “What do you mean you ‘don’t control it’? I’m sure if you try really hard you can figure something out.”

“I told you that’s not how it works.”

“Stiles-”

Deaton interrupted them, “Instead of arguing amongst yourselves, why don’t one of you explain what you mean by asking Stiles to see into the future?”

Stiles glared at Peter before turning his attention on the emissary, “ _ Sometimes _ I get a feeling about the future or I’ll dream about it,” he explained.

Laura spoke next, “He called Derek to warn him that the plan wasn’t going to go right. He knew about the fire five years ago, too.”

Deaton released a small hum of thought, inducing Stiles to speak up again.

“It’s not that important. I can’t control it, so it’s not very helpful. And in any case that I’ve even had a vision, it’s always come true. I can’t change the future.”

“Now that, I believe you to be wrong about,” Deaton said. “Please, tell me more. What do the visions look like? And how intense are the feelings you receive?”

Stiles insecurely looked around the room. Derek could tell he didn’t truly want to talk about himself or his ability. He probably saw it as more harm than good. Derek found himself stepping closer to Stiles to instinctively try and comfort him.

Stiles glanced over at him with a small frown, almost as if he was pleading ‘don’t make me do this’. Derek just nodded to him, encouraging him to explain. Stiles let out a long sigh before he jumped into his explanation.

“If I’m asleep, I have visions of what’s coming. They’re not very clear or helpful in most cases, but they’re almost like lucid dreaming. I know I’m dreaming, and I know it’s not  _ real _ but I can also feel the impending  _ yet _ in the back of my mind constantly. I can never get the answers I want. Like, when I envisioned your house burning down, I couldn’t tell how it started. All I saw was that you escaped. But I can’t jump around the dream or vision, I’m only shown certain parts of it. The worst part of it is… the feelings. Like I said, it’s almost like lucid dreaming. Everything is so… vivid. Including my senses. When I saw my dad get shot… I felt his…” Stiles stopped to take a breath.

“I could feel his blood splatter across my face. When I witnessed the fire, I could feel the heat of the fire spreading across my body. I wasn’t standing in it, thankfully, but the heat was so intense and the smoke was so heavy. I could barely breathe. But when I’m not dreaming, when I’m aware of my true surroundings, I just get heavy feelings of whatever’s to come. Like last night. I had a sudden, overwhelming feeling that Erica was in trouble. I’ve learned to trust those feelings instead of chalking it up to paranoia, so I called Derek to tell him. But when I’m awake, anything I’m feeling is happening right in the moment. It’s less a vision of the future, and just knowing what’s happening without seeing it.”

Derek went to put his hand on Stiles’s back to comfort him, but thought better of it. Stiles probably wanted to look strong talking about his visions like this. Derek didn’t think he would take well to his comfort.

There was a silence that fell over the room then. Everyone tried to take in what Stiles was explaining to them. Laura had a frown on her face, but she didn’t look surprised. Maybe this is what Stiles had told her in the arcade after Derek had left. Both Isaac and Deaton looked deep in thought, as if they were trying to find the last piece of the puzzle. It was Isaac that spoke. 

He looked up at Stiles with confusion in his eyes, “What about when you started talking in rhyme last night?”

Stiles stared back at him with the same confusion, “What?”

All of the wolves looked back to Stiles then in surprise. He didn’t know he’d done that?

Isaac explained, “Last night, when you were talking to Derek. Your voice suddenly changed and you started talking in like… a riddle. I think you said ‘A snake slithers through grass faster than a wolf can weave through trees, when the moon reaches its apex, she’s lost her chance to flee’ or something like that.”

“My voice… I…” Stiles hesitated, looking up at Derek as if he were asking if it were true. Derek only stared back at him, confused as to how he couldn’t know what he’d said. “I’ve never… no one’s ever told me I’ve done that. I really said that? I didn’t even know the kanima existed before today.”

When Derek looked back at Deaton, he seemed to have a small smile on his face. It looked like he’d figured it out.

“Are any of you familiar with Greek mythology?”

* * *

Everyone in the room stared at Deaton in confusion, but Stiles responded anyway.

“Like the gods and goddesses? I think everyone has a some sort of idea of them.”

“Then are you familiar with Apollo?” Deaton questioned.

Stiles nodded, “The god of the sun, yeah. He rides a chariot across the sky every morning to raise the sun and all that.”

“He reigns over more than that as most major deities do. But, what is important in this conversation is that he is the god who watches over oracles.”

A sense of realization fell over Derek. Oracles. Derek knew from ancient mythology that oracles prophesied the future, answering and giving advice to the citizens of the Greece. Derek knew of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi and the importance of the Pythia. Stiles could see the future but not everything he exactly wanted to. He had a vague sense of what he could do, but he didn’t see an actual answer to change everything. But what must have truly hit the theory home was the change in Stiles last night. How he spoke in a riddle and through an ethereal voice that was not his own.

Could it really be true that Stiles was an oracle? Was that even possible? 

“How is that important to this conversation?” Stiles asked, confused.

Deaton smiled at him, “Because, Stiles, if my theory is correct… you are the first oracle I’ve heard of since the oracle of the Mercer pack in 1874. She was an oracle of Artemis who’d saved the Mercer pack of complete decimation when she realized she’d prophesied their destruction as a child. Very interesting story it was.”

Stiles stared at Deaton with a blank stare, as if he couldn’t understand any of the words that came out of his mouth. Derek slowly put his hand on Stiles’s shoulder, looking at his face with concern. Stiles met his eyes and Derek could see the confusion in them. He truly couldn’t understand what was being told to him.

“What does… being an oracle come with?” Derek asked for Stiles, looking back at Deaton.

“That’s where things get most interesting. I don’t truly know. There are many stories of oracles, such as the Pythia of the Temple of Apollo, but you know as well as I do that mythology is told and retold too many times to be considered true. The oracle of Mercer doesn’t have much legend surrounding her. The most I can tell you about her is that her name was Delia, she was an oracle of Artemis as I said before, and that she was integral to the Mercer pack. Though her most notable achievement was changing the entire future of her pack, she helped in much more than that. From what I know, she was incredibly talented with a bow. While that was most likely a skill imbued in her by the goddess who chose her, it allowed her to take part in the battles against anything that threatened them. 

“Something else that was commonly told in legends about her, was that she was an adept clairvoyant. The Mercer pack consistently sung praise of her power to see without being present, almost like astral projection. They never shied away from explaining their strategy to others. Delia would look for what they needed, giving them the pathway that they seeked and then there was no chance for any enemy to outrank them. They had known enemy strategies, positions, and ambush tactics before the enemies even knew they had arrived. But other than those few things, I cannot tell you more. From my own assumptions, each oracle would be different than the rest. Delia’s goddess allowed her to easily pick up the bow and help her family, but I can assume that an oracle of say… Zeus or Poseidon would not hold the same abilities.”

Laura looked between Stiles and Derek, then Deaton, “So… what can Stiles do then?”

Deaton shrugged, looking at Stiles, “Stiles is a mystery. Unless Stiles knows of a certain god or goddess that’s visited him or… chosen him, then we don’t have a starting point as to what Stiles could possibly be capable of.”

Stiles, who had been completely silent while the room described his entire being, finally spoke up, “I don’t. I don’t know of any god or goddess that would choose me for anything. The first thing I ever saw was my mother dying in the hospital with nothing I could do to stop it. I am not an oracle. I have no prophecies to tell. I don’t have anything but uncontrollable visions that end with me having no control over how they truly end. I’m not Delia. I can’t save anyone from dying.”

“You had no idea what you were before this. You don’t think that the reason that you have no control over what you can do has something to do with your lack of knowledge?”

Stiles opened his mouth to respond, but seemed to hesitate. 

Isaac spoke up, “You can try to change the future today, Stiles. Help us find Erica.”

Stiles looked at him with sad eyes, “I… I don’t know how.”

Deaton gestured to the operating table in front of them all, “Sit,” he commanded.

Stiles hesitated again, looking up at Derek. Derek gave him a small, encouraging nod as he let go of his shoulder. Stiles sighed, slowly moving himself to the table and sitting on it.

“From what I understand,” the emissary began, “You already have visions and premonitions of the future. Divination is obviously the magical skill that oracles are known for, so this isn’t surprising to me. But the art of divination magic runs deep, such as Delia’s clairvoyance. I want to explore that possibility with you.”

Stiles looked up at the doctor with uncertainty, “O-Okay… so what do I do? Just sit here and hope something happens?” 

“I’ll teach you the same way that wolves are taught,” Deaton looked around the room, “When the shift between human and werewolf first becomes prominent, especially in bitten wolves, you have to learn to control it. That always begins with the mind. To achieve the results you want, you have to believe you will achieve them first. Then, anchor yourself in something real, something that will help you keep control. For some, that is a memory, a feeling, or a person that keeps them from losing themselves. We call that specific thing an ‘anchor’. For a wolf, the process of shifting comes from their  _ belief _ that they will shift, their  _ desire _ to shift, and their  _ control _ over the feelings that they have when the shift comes upon them. I want you to try to recreate these things to try and find Erica. Whether that comes from a vision of finding her, hearing instructions of where to go, or a location. Anything.”

“Do I like… beg whatever god I have to give me the vision?” Stiles asked.

“You’ve never had to beg before. Until you know who it is, I don’t think it would be wise to possibly give your attention to another deity. For now, just try to achieve your results through your own will.”

Stiles nodded, taking a deep breath as he closed his eyes and his eyebrows pressed inwards as if he were thinking very hard. 

“Don’t strain yourself,” Isaac said gently from behind him.

“Okay well I don’t know what else to do when you’re told you have some sort of power that you’ve never felt before!” Stiles said in an exasperated voice.

Isaac shrunk back into himself and backed off. Stiles sighed before taking another breath and going back to his concentration.

After a few minutes of no results, Stiles was starting to turn red. Derek could smell the embarrassment coming from him as he failed to achieve the results he desperately wanted. Slowly, Derek walked up to him and placed his hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay i-”

He was interrupted by Stiles’s sudden gasp and his body jolting to straighten his back. His hand flew up and he grabbed onto Derek’s hand tightly as he held it close to him. Stiles’s eyes opened, staring directly up into Derek’s face. 

His eyes were pure white. Derek could see his irises and his pupils, but they were shaded over in a white, almost stormy color. It almost reminded Derek of snow.

All of the wolves jumped back at Stiles’s sudden outburst and new eyes. All except for Derek, who stood close to Stiles and held onto his hand. The same voice that Stiles spoke in on the phone the night before reappeared as he opened his mouth.

“I see her…” he said.

Deaton stared at the dotted boy in awe. Derek almost went to ask Stiles a question, but he began speaking again.

“Erica…” Derek watched as tears began to spill out of Stiles’s stormy eyes. “She’s chained… she’s chained up. She’s bloody. She-” Stiles swallowed hard as more tears fell from his eyes.

“It’s dark. I can’t see. She’s breathing. She’s… she’s crying. She’s hurt.”

“What is she chained to Stiles?” Deaton asked.

“I… I don’t know. It looks… like some weird mechanism. A circle. All four of her limbs are attached to it in chains and she’s suspended in the air. She’s been cut so many times…”

“Where is she, Stiles?” Deaton pressed.

“I-I don’t know. I can’t move. It’s dark. I think maybe it’s a cellar, or a basement? I can’t tell. She’s the only thing I can really see.”

“Try to find the entrance, Stiles.”

“I can’t. I can’t move. I’m paralyzed. I-” Stiles began to panic, his breathing becoming more and more manic and labored. “Something’s coming. I can’t move. Derek. Derek! I can’t- I can’t  _ MOVE _ !”

Derek looked to Deaton, but Deaton shook his head trying to advise him to not interrupt the process. But Derek couldn’t just sit and  _ watch _ while Stiles had a panic attack, calling for him. Derek raised his free hand to Stiles’s face.

“Stiles, come back. It’s ok. You found her. You can stop.”

Stiles sniffled as he continued to breathe heavily. Deaton didn’t do anything to stop Derek from pulling Stiles out of the vision.

Derek eventually saw Stiles’s eyes lose their cloudy image, staring back at into his. 

“I couldn’t-” Stiles started.

Derek shook his head, “It’s ok. She’s alive. That was all we needed to know. Thank you, Stiles.”

Laura spoke up as well, “It’s true. Thank you, Stiles. Knowing that Erica is alive… that’s all I need to know. All the more reason that we’re not giving up.”

Boyd, who looked like he was on the verge of tears, walked up behind Stiles and pressed his own hand into Stiles’s empty shoulder. It was a silent thanks, but it seemed like everyone understood it.

Stiles eventually started to look more relieved, he brought his free hand up to wipe his tears away with a weary smile, “That was… much more work than I thought it would be.”

Derek watched as Stiles’s eyes slowly closed and he began to fall over. Derek immediately caught his body, gently lowering it to the table before looking at Deaton for answers.

“He’d probably never used that much energy before in his life. He’s just understanding the capacity of his magic. It’s good to know that he has somewhat of a clairvoyant ability, despite not knowing who’s claimed him as their oracle. With this, we can keep track of Erica’s status, or even where the hunters are at any given time. Just try not to overwork him, he can’t handle too much,” he directed it to the alpha of the pack.

Laura nodded to the emissary, looking down at Stiles with relief washed over her face. Though Stiles’s revelation as an oracle was such a big mystery that was relatively solved, what was better was the knowledge of their beloved friend and packmate.

 

Erica was alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo I have to know, who are you all theorizing is the god or goddess that's chosen Stiles? I'll help you narrow it down... they are from Greek Mythology. (But you probably already guessed that :P)


	12. Roommate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek takes Stiles home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. This week has been very busy and eventful for me, so this chapter is just slightly shorter than the last few that have been released. I hope you enjoy!

After receiving the good news that Erica was alive, the pack soon sobered up to the new discovery that she was being tortured. It was a confusing addition to the story. There was never any idea that the kanima might take a hostage. But their master could.

“Don’t you just hate it that the minute you show up to solve the problem, everything changes?” Peter sarcastically commented to the room.

Laura sighed, “I just don’t understand _why_ everything has changed. We already didn’t have a solid plan coming into this, it only makes it worse now that we’re almost completely in the dark all over again.”

Isaac grimly nodded, “We have so much to figure out, and we have no idea how much time Erica has left. Stiles is the only one that can regularly check in on her.”

Derek stared at Stiles as he lay unconscious on the operating table. After finally accomplishing his goal of seeing Erica and the panic that it ensued, he became exhausted and fell to his side. Derek somewhat understood the act of exerting more power than he’s capable of, and the feeling of the shift between using that power and allowing it to rest. It can be incredibly exhausting trying to manage those two extremes. Stiles had a long way to go before he could truly handle the power inside him.

“Well, Stiles has been a big help already,” Laura said, turning to Derek. “We still have a lot of time of the day to try to figure something out. Why don’t you take Stiles home and let him get some real rest while the rest of us try and formulate some sort of plan to find Erica.”

Derek moved his eyes from Stiles’s body to glance at his alpha before he nodded. The wolf gently lowered his arms to move under Stiles’s legs and his back. Lifting Stiles was easy. He was incredibly light to Derek. The beta gave the rest of his pack and final look, receiving a nod from most of them before he left the clinic with Stiles in his arms. Stiles stayed undisturbed as he was placed inside Derek’s backseat. After Derek placed him inside, he fished inside Stiles’s pockets to find his jeep’s keys, but found a ring of keys instead. It only had three keys and a small Batman accessory, so it wouldn’t take too long to find the correct one. He found the jeep’s key and used it to get inside the boy’s car. Derek looked inside the car for anything Stiles might need for school or anything else he might generally miss once he wakes up.

Stiles kept his jeep well cleaned on the inside. Derek could tell the car meant a lot to him. While he looked through the vehicle, doing his best to avoid snooping into Stiles’s private contents, he managed to find his backpack on the floor in the backseat. Derek assumed that it was his school bag and picked it up to take with him. He also found Stiles’s wallet sitting on the dashboard and took that as well. With nothing else that seemed important enough to Stiles, Derek closed the vehicle and locked it up. Then, he got back into his own car and drove off towards Stiles’s home.

* * *

Derek found his way to Stiles’s home based off of memory alone. He was surprised that he could remember the address and path so clearly despite it being five years, but he drove there with ease nonetheless. Pulling in front of the dotted boy’s home gave him a cruel wave of nostalgia. The last time he had drove here, he came for comfort and happiness, driven by his affection and desperate need for the dotted boy’s presence. This home held good memories for him. Derek found happiness in the fact that his falling out with Stiles did not happen here.

Derek got Stiles’s ring of keys out again, wondering which would open the front door. He went with his best guess between the two remaining keys but the lock wouldn’t budge. He went the other and managed to unlock the door. He removed the key from the lock, placing it in his pocket before moving back to his car and gently removing Stiles’s body from the car again. He held him bridal style once again.

This time, the movement seemed to disturb Stiles. He stirred awake, wrapping his arms around Derek’s neck to hold himself closer to the wolf.

Stiles groaned, “Mm… D’rek? Wha’s goin’ on?”

Derek didn’t respond as he moved back to the front door and gently swung it open to give himself room to walk in. When the door fully opened, Derek was met with a gun aimed at him and a very angry sheriff in the hallway staring at him. Noah’s eyes went wide with shock as they met Derek’s own shocked expression.

“Derek Hale?” Noah said as he slowly lowered the gun, before moving his eyes to his son in Derek’s arms. “What happened to him?” he asked with worry as he began moving towards them.

“Stayed up all night,” Derek lied. “I found him at the Hale estate when I went out there this morning.”

The sheriff glared at his son, “I told you not to go out there by yourself, Stiles.”

Stiles’s head pressed against Derek’s neck, directly where his pulse lay. Stiles his hid eyes in the crook of the wolf’s neck, his nose almost bumping Derek’s adam’s apple. “Tattletale…” he muttered to him.

Noah sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “Sorry for pulling a gun on you,” he said to Derek. “I heard the door unlock and then there was a long pause so I got suspicious. Stiles always calls before he visits.”

“Visits?” Derek asked.

Noah tilted his head, “He didn’t tell you? Oh… no wonder you brought him here instead of his own place. Yeah, he moved out two years into college. Lives in a nice little apartment closer to Beacon Hills College.”

Derek frowned, looking down at the dotted boy, “I didn’t know. How does he afford his own rent?”

“He works a few shifts at the arcade. You remember the one you both skipped school for?” Noah said pointedly, “Carl pays him pretty good money. I know it’s because he’s a family friend and Carl has the money to hand out, but it’s nice of him anyway. Plus, it makes it easier since he shares the rent with his roommate.”

Derek was shocked at that statement. A roommate? There was no way it was Scott. Scott was engaged to Allison, they would obviously live together. But who could lure Stiles out of his home to live with them alone? Derek had already accepted the possibility that Stiles may have dated or be dating now. Derek had never attempted to in New York, engrossing himself into work was more important than ever trying to find love with someone. Not to mention, his luck with love hadn’t exactly been great. Plenty had sought after him, even Claire had attempted to flirt with him when he first started working with her but she was perceptive to his lack of reaction. Others were simple strangers that he might have seen in a coffee shop or while on a run, even when he decided to join a gym for a month. But nothing ever came of it. Derek couldn’t see the worth of being with someone when he was still coping with himself and his choices.

Laura would tease him about his need to get laid so that he would “stop being so broody” for years, but that only made him more resentive to the idea. He didn’t need to get _laid_ to be happy. Sure, he’d had a few unimportant one-night stands but they never left a mark on him. It didn’t help when Derek could only think of Stiles during his hookups. There was a woman one night, Paige, who he’d brought back to his apartment for a hookup but had ended up in a deep conversation about family and their lives up to that point. It was an odd encounter. He wished he’d gotten her number just to see how she was doing now.

“You okay there son?” the sheriff interrupted his thoughts.

Derek looked up to meet his eyes and gave a quick nod, “Yes. Sorry. If you give me his address I can take him there instead.”

“It’s alright, you can leave him here for the night. Don’t wanna make you have to drive all the way over to the east side just to take him home.”

Derek shook his head, “He said he has a night class tonight, I don’t think he would appreciate having to get a ride to school from here. I’m more than okay taking him to where he needs to go.”

Noah sighed before he spoke the address including the apartment number aloud to Derek. He asked if Derek needed him to write it down but Derek refused, committing the address to memory already. As Derek was walking back out of the door with Stiles in his arms, the sheriff spoke again.

“You know, you broke my boy’s heart when you left.”

Derek stopped in his tracks, looking down at Stiles’s face still buried in his neck. It seemed like the boy had fallen back asleep after being roused.

“I don’t ever want to have to see him like that again,” Noah said with authority. “You saw my gun, I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger next time.”

Derek nodded, his back still to Stiles’s father, “I wouldn’t blame you.”

With that, they seemed to reach an understanding of each other. Derek left the house while the sheriff closed the door behind him. The wolf gently placed the dotted boy inside of his car once again, careful to leave the boy asleep. After getting Stiles situated, Derek got back into the driver’s seat and put Stiles’s new address in his phone’s GPS. With the directions in his hand, he drove away from the sheriff’s home.

* * *

Derek knew the neighborhood in which Stiles’s new apartment was. He’d been through here multiple times when his mother forced him to go on college tours. Stiles had truly found a place very close to school and he wondered if he even had to drive to commute. The apartment building itself was only a few blocks away from Beacon Hills College. Stiles lived on the first floor of the building in apartment two. Derek parked his car in the parking lot designated for the building’s tenants. Derek grabbed Stiles’s backpack and slung it around his shoulder before grabbing the boy himself. Stiles was fully roused from his sleep this time when Derek pulled him out of the car and into his arms bridal style once again.

He groaned against Derek’s shoulder, “My head hurts…”

Derek scoffed quietly but didn’t respond as he began walking towards the entrance of the building.

“Where are we?” Stiles asked, hiding his eyes by pressing his entire face against Derek’s chest. He must be trying to avoid the light in favor of his head.

“I’m taking you home,” Derek responded.

“Dad told you where I live now?”

“Yes.”

Stiles hummed, still hiding himself in Derek’s shirt. Derek paid him no mind as he walked inside the apartment building and immediately towards Stiles’s apartment. The building itself was rather tall from the outside, but the inside was basic. The entrance was simply two glass doors that opened into carpeted floor leading down two opposing hallways. If Derek took an immediate right after walking inside, he saw that he would find himself at a staircase leading up to the next floor and down to the basement of the building.

Instead, Derek stayed on the first floor of the building in order to get to Stiles’s apartment. It was down the left hallway according to the sign that showed the apartment numbers down each side. When Derek turned down the hallway, he could see that at the very end of it was an elevator that would lead tenants to their floor if they didn’t want to take the stairs. He found it odd that the elevator was all the way down the hallway while the stairs were at the immediate entrance, but he wasn’t an architect so he ignored it.

The apartment was obviously the second door to the left. Derek, with Stiles still in his arms, pulled out the final key that he hadn’t used yet and inserted it into the lock. He tried to turn the key each way, but found it ineffective. Did Stiles not have a key to his own apartment?

“You have to jiggle it, the lock gets stuck sometimes. Try pushing or pulling on the door a little to loosen it,” Stiles offered.

Derek did just that, but again received no luck. Stiles groaned in annoyance as Derek continued to push and pull on the door to try and loosen the lock. From the other side he heard movement coming towards the door in angry stomps.

A annoyed woman’s voice rang out from the other side of the door,“Stop shaking the door you barbarian, I’ll unlock it!”

That was voice was familiar, but there was no way that....

The door finally unlocked from the other side, swinging open. Derek found himself looking down to meet eyes with the red haired princess of Beacon Hills High School, Lydia Martin.

“Stiles, I _told_ you that-” she stopped speaking when she realized she was talking to Derek and not the dotted boy she expected. She stared at him for a few seconds, then looked down at Stiles in his arms, then back to Derek. “What are _you_ doing here?” she asked venomously.

Derek narrowed his eyes at her, “I could ask you the same thing.”

“I _live_ _here_.”

Derek’s eyes widened. _Lydia Martin_ was Stiles’s roommate? The same Lydia Martin that treated Stiles like absolute shit in high school? The same Lydia Martin that Stiles was madly in love with the entire time Derek knew him? She was the one Stiles lived with?

It dawned on him then. When Derek had left, Stiles must have found his chance to somehow woo Lydia. Maybe she had needed a date for prom after another one of her break ups with Jackson, or maybe the two had met by chance somewhere and Lydia had given him a true chance for once. Maybe Lydia had just realized she was a bitch and decided to change her ways. Then, they’d fallen in love. They were more than roommates. They were lovers. Derek knew. He could smell the concern and anxiety coming from the red haired woman when she noticed Stiles in his arms. They weren’t simply roommates for school or convenience, she cared for Stiles now. Derek knew that if Lydia had ever seen Stiles for what he truly was, she would feel stupid for ever rejecting him.

Stiles muttered, “Hey, Lyds… can you let Derek in so I can pass out in a dark room? My head is killing me.”

Lyds. He calls her Lyds.

‘Lyds’ apparently respects Stiles enough to allow Derek inside due to his wishes. She reluctantly stepped aside to give Derek enough room to enter, closing the door behind him once he’s inside. The apartment itself isn’t bad at all. The living room is spacious and contained two couches with a flat screen TV against one of the walls. It connected to the kitchen, like Derek’s loft, but had a horizontal half wall that separates the kitchen and living room while leaving a space open to walk in and out of each without a door. There’s a hallway that leads down into three doors. Derek assumed that one of them is Stiles and Lydia’s room, and the other two are the guest room and bathroom. Lydia, recognizing that Derek was analyzing the place, pointed down the hallway.

“Stiles’s room is the one at the very end.”

Well they at least seemed to have separate rooms, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they always sleep separately. Derek stoically nodded to her. He carried Stiles down the hall, opening the final door and pushing it open. Derek didn’t know what he expected Stiles’s room to look like, but for it to be so clean and organized… it surprised him. Derek half-expected a room full of comic books on the floor and scattered papers or at least a messed up bed. Instead, the room was immaculate.

There were comic book decorations hung up around the room that covered the bland, white walls that were originally surrounding the room. Derek could recognize at least five characters that were on the walls — all of them from Batman. The covers of his bed were simple blue covers and blue sheets to match. There was a desktop computer laying atop a desk by the door. It faced the door, so anyone walking in wouldn’t be able to see the screen immediately but be met face to face with Stiles instead. Finally, in the corner of the room stood a bookshelf that looked to be completely covered in comic books. They neatly lined up as if they were in a library. Derek could see that there were even bookends on each shelf to keep the comics from falling or bending. He was impressed.

Derek gently lowered Stiles onto his bed. He watched as the boy settled into his bed, raising his arms to shield his eyes from the sunlight that peeked through the single window that he had in the room. Derek immediately closed the curtains on them. Thankfully, Stiles had black curtains that completely blocked the sun.

“Thanks, Der,” Stiles quietly said, lowering his arms.

Derek ignored the pang in his heart at the nickname Stiles called him, “Of course,” he said.

“Could you do me a favor?” Stiles looked up at Derek through his eyelashes. “I just need some water and ibuprofen. I don’t know if sleeping is the answer anymore.”

Derek looked towards the door to make sure Lydia wasn’t there or eavesdropping before he responded, “You used a lot of unknown power today so you’re going to feel like shit for awhile, I think. But I’ll get you the medicine.”

Stiles nodded to him, “Thank you.”

Derek left the room then, closing the door behind him to hide any light peeking in. He sniffed the air to decide between which door led to the bathroom, following the scent of medicine and water rather than the perfume that wafted from the other door. He rummaged through Stiles’s medicine cabinet to find the ibuprofen, taking two tablets out before closing the cabinet. Then, with the tablets in hand, he walked back towards the living room to get a cup of water. Predictably, Lydia was waiting for him in the living room with her arms crossed and her memorable look of anger. Derek suddenly felt like he was in high school again.

“What happened to him?” Lydia asked first.

Derek didn’t know if he should use the same lie he told the sheriff. Since Lydia lived with Stiles, she’d know if he truly stayed up all night.

“He got a migraine while we were out. When he pulled over, I took him to my car to drive him home since he couldn’t do it himself anymore.”

Lydia stared at him with a critical look in her eyes. Derek may be a werewolf, but if there was any human that scared him it was Lydia Martin. She had looks that could kill, and sometimes he felt like she truly _would_ kill him if he made one more misstep. The look she gave him now reminded him of how he’d first felt with the sheriff. As if she could hear his heartbeat and accuse him of lying to her.

However, Lydia moved on from the topic by responding, “What are you doing back in Beacon Hills?”

It felt less like genuine curiosity as it did an interrogation. It felt like Lydia was accusing him of something, or that she didn’t trust him. With how evil she always was, Derek wouldn’t be surprised if she was the kanima. Maybe she was angry with him for being so close to the trail. That would be a hilarious full circle moment, but Derek didn’t truly believe it.

“Family business,” Derek answered vaguely.

“So, what, you plan on going back?”

“I don’t know yet, I haven’t finished my business.”

“Then stay away from Stiles.”

Derek scrunched his eyebrows together, “Excuse me?”

Lydia glared at him through her way too intimidating eyes, “I said to stay away from Stiles.”

“I’m not worried about getting between what you two have together, but you’re not putting limits or boundaries on me,” Derek stated firmly, standing his ground.

“What we have together?” Lydia asked incredulously. Then her eyes widened and she laughed out loud despite Derek’s confusion, “Oh, you think he’s dating me since _you_ left? Jealous of me?”

Derek almost growled at her, he went to open his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Lydia.

“You’re an imbecile. Stiles and I aren’t dating, but even if we were it would give you _no_ right to be jealous or angry. Stiles told me everything. You left. Everyone knew what you two were. Everyone at that lunch table could see it clear as day, and for you to just walk out then decide to waltz back in and get Stiles’s friendship back is incredulous. He deserves better than you.”

Derek refrained himself from shouting, “You’re one to talk. You treated him like shit the entirety of the time that I knew him. You acted like he was dirt under your shoe. You barely even said _two words_ to him.”

Lydia stared at her perfectly manicured nails as if she were completely unbothered by the statement, “Stiles needed to grow up before I could give him my time. He was an obsessive fanboy over me and needed to respect my relationship. He knows that now.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to treat him like shit.”

Lydia stared back at him, “But it gave you the right to?”

Derek clenched his fists, “I never treated him like you did.”

“No, you just left him alone and never contacted him again. Even though you _knew_ that he would have wanted to talk to you.”

“I wasn’t ready,” Derek said through gritted teeth.

“But five years later you magically are? You couldn’t send him so much as a _text_ to ask how he was, but you can stand to carry him in your arms and walk into his home?”

Derek frowned, “It’s different.”

Lydia scoffed, “It is. One is easier. The other is what you’re doing now. You’re weak, Derek. You can’t admit that you’re using Stiles’s kindness and the way he forgives people against him.”

“And you’re not? You’re living with him.”

“I told you he just needed to grow up before we could have a real conversation.”

“I needed to grow up before I could have a real conversation with him too.”

They both stared at each other then. Both of them refused to back down from the other. They stayed that way for awhile, neither of them moving. Simply analyzing each other; thinking about what the other said.

“I know Stiles. I know he’s going to forgive you with the entirety of his heart. I want you to know that if you fuck it up, _if you break his heart_ , I will find you and kill you. I don’t care if you’re in New York, Guatemala, Japan, or Antartica. I know how to create an acid potent enough to burn all of your skin off until you’re nothing but muscle. It dissolves your body slow enough to feel your toenails slowly peeling themselves off with nothing to attach themselves to.”

Derek grimaced at the image. For some reason, Lydia’s threat held even more weight than that of the sheriff’s.

“I don’t plan on it,” he assured her.

Lydia tossed her fiery red hair behind her ear, “Good. I’m glad we can understand each other.”

Derek frowned but nodded as he began rummaging through the kitchen cabinets for a cup. Lydia, obviously impatient with his presence, joined him in the kitchen in order to hand him a cup herself. He silently thanked her with a nod before he filled it with water from the tap. Without another word between them, Derek walked back to Stiles’s room. The first thing that Derek noticed when he walked into Stiles’s room was the fact that Stiles was in his underwear, above the covers, with an arm over his eyes. Derek stopped in his tracks, forcing himself not to immediately get hard at the sight. He swallowed.

“I got your medicine,” he said to announce himself to Stiles. Stiles groaned, lowering his arm.

“Took you long enough… Lydia wouldn’t help you find a cup?” Stiles asked, raising himself up to sit with his legs crossed.

Derek shook his head without answering. He handed Stiles the cup and then the tablets. He noticed that one of them had broken in two, probably due to Derek clenching his fists so hard while Lydia argued with him. Stiles didn’t say anything when noticed.

Stiles took the pills with ease, and Derek tried not to pay attention to the way his  neck moved as he swallowed. After Stiles downed the entire cup of water, he sighed in relief. He handed Derek the cup, who placed it on Stiles’s desk.

“Well if you’re okay now, I guess I should go,” Derek said.

Stiles frowned at him but slowly nodded, “I am. Just gonna rest in here until my head feels better.”

Derek nodded back, standing there for a few seconds. He felt like he should say something else, or should watch over Stiles until he was better, but he decided against it. Slowly, he turned and started to head out the door.

The wolf looked back, “I’ll text you if we find anything else out, let me know when you’re awake and going to school.”

“Thanks. I’ll let you know,” Stiles assured him.

Derek nodded to him again before closing the door behind him. Lydia gladly showed him out of the apartment, locking the door behind him as he left. When Derek got into his car, he felt his phone vibrate. He looked down to see a text from Stiles.

_S: Thanks for carrying me everywhere, wolf man. I see where the werewolf strength comes in handy._

_D: Get off your phone, you have a migraine._

_S: Aye, Aye, Alpha._

_D: I’m not the alpha._

_S: Don’t ruin the credentials of my nicknames._

_D: Close your eyes and rest Stiles._

_S: I can tupe witj my eye closet so it does even matrer_

_D: ?_

_S: Damn, could have sworn I got that 100% correct._

_D: Please go to bed._

_S: Whatevs_

There were a few minutes between text messages before Derek received another one.

_S: Stay safe_

_D: I always have_

_S: :)_

With that, Derek finally drove away from the building. His argument with Lydia still ran through his mind, and the threat from the sheriff. Had Stiles truly been that upset when he left? So much so that everyone around him knew that it was him that caused it and even hated him for it? He was happy to see that the dotted boy held so many people that cared about him, but he hated the feeling of being shunned. Along with all of the other problems he had, now there was one more.

 

He had to show everyone how much Stiles meant to him.


	13. First Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and the pack finally take the first steps to try and find Erica themselves the best way they know how.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooooooo! It's been a roouuuuuughhh three weeks. I am so sorry for not posting any chapters the last two weeks in a row, I wish there were an easy way for me to make an announcement about that kind of thing. I know this chapter is not only short but not the most eventful, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
> 
> Vent session in the end notes, feel free to skip it. <3

There were a lot of things that Derek expected to see when he arrived home. Maybe he’d see his pack sitting around their table evaluating a plan. Maybe they’d simply be relaxing and gathering their thoughts from their revelations. Or even Laura might be on the phone with their mother asking for advice from their previous alpha.

But instead, he walked into his sister diving a knife into his uncle’s side.

“ **OW** ! **FUCK** !”

Derek worriedly looked between his family with shock.

“What the fuck is going on?!” Derek yelled. His eyes found his other two packmates standing off to the side. Isaac watched the scene with his hands to his face, hiding his eyes between his fingers while Boyd watched with only a slight grimace.

Laura looked over at Derek as she pulled the knife out of their uncle’s side. She scrunched her face up as she tossed the bloody instrument onto one of their kitchen counters.

“We have a plan,” Laura said as if it were the perfect explanation for the scene in front of Derek.

“That involves stabbing our uncle?!”

Laura nodded, “ **Yes** ! This is our one-way ticket into the hospital. Then we can ask Scott McCall’s mom about the kids that came in paralyzed.”

Derek gaped at her reasoning. She stabbed their uncle so they could Scott’s mom about the kanima?! Well, this was probably the  _ easiest _ way but that didn’t make it any less weird to see.

Derek raised his eyebrow as his uncle held a hand to his bleeding side, “Won’t Peter just heal before they examine him anyway?”

Laura smirked as if she knew Derek would ask that exact question, “I covered the knife with wolfsbane, courtesy of Deaton. He quite liked our plan.”

Derek sighed, shaking his head. He looked at his other two betas, “You both condoned this?”

“I wasn’t the one getting stabbed,” Boyd shrugged.

“I was outnumbered…” Isaac said, holding his side as if he were the one that had been stabbed.

Peter growled loudly, “Why did  **_I_ ** have to be the test subject?”

Laura laughed as she grabbed his arm on his uninjured side, pulling him towards the entrance to their loft.

“Because you’re the one that came up with the idea, uncle! You can’t suggest that someone gets stabbed but then not step up to the plate. I’m sure you’re handling the pain wonderfully.”

Peter half shifted as he snapped his fangs at his niece, “ **Fuck off** ,” he said.

Laura just giggled to herself as she dragged him out of the loft down towards their cars. Derek just stared incredulously at his packmates as they moved around him to follow the other two. He really never gets a break.

* * *

Derek drove his own car to the hospital. Mostly because he didn’t need to hear his uncle’s angry and painful bickering with Laura. He could only imagine the mess made in that car. At least they had the money to pay for it.

They arrived to the hospital with a fake sense of urgency. Once they’d pulled up to the emergency room entrance, they all put their acting faces on. Peter didn’t have to try to pretend he was angry and in pain, so he was perfect for his role. Laura played the perfect concerned and fretting niece who just wanted her uncle to be okay, while the rest of the betas played the supportive cast who held Laura as she cried her crocodile tears.

It took way too long than it should have for a stabbing victim to be taken back, which Peter excessively complained about. Derek did the paperwork for them as they sat in the waiting room. Their presence held the stares of multiple people who were probably both interested and terrified by the sight of someone being stabbed in the side. Laura played up the story that it happened during a mugging gone wrong. When she was asked if they needed them to call the police or if she already had, she requested they call them to the hospital. 

“What are you doing?! Getting the police involved?” Derek whispered to her when they’d sat down. 

She paused her faux breakdown to whisper back, “Two birds with one stone. We can talk to the police about any issues they’ve seen, and Mrs. McCall about the teenagers she told Stiles about. Trust your alpha, Derek.”

Derek growled at her under his breath, “You’d better know what you’re doing.”

When the medical staff finally arrived to take Peter back to some room that they could work on him, it was Derek who helped them get him to the room. They offered Peter a wheelchair, but he insisted his nephew be the one to assist him to the room.

With one arm over Derek’s shoulder, Peter limped his way behind the medical staff towards the examination room. He pushed his face closer to Derek’s, whispering in his ear “You’d better find Scott’s mother while you’re back here or else I’m stabbing both you  _ and _ Laura when I get out of here.”

Derek frowned at him but didn’t say anything. The plan was so risky in so many ways. What would the staff say when Peter ended up healing faster than anyone they’d ever seen? What if Melissa McCall doesn’t even have work? There was so many ways everything could go wrong and Derek hated that he had to play a vital role in making sure it didn’t. 

Once the pair arrived at the door to the examination room, the staff requested Derek leave them to work on his uncle as they gently removed the older man from his nephew’s grasp. Derek pretended to be reluctant about the issue, but gave up his uncle anyway. One of the men helping his uncle inside asked if he needed help getting back to the waiting room, but Derek insisted he remembered the directions. After the staff closed the door, Derek immediately took the chance to start searching for their nurse in need.

The only reason Derek felt safe searching this wing of the hospital was in the clue that Stiles had left them when he told them about the teens who came in. If they were paralyzed, chances are they rushed to the emergency room over anything else. If Melissa McCall was responding and observing them, she must be here somewhere. His only hope was that she was there today. 

Derek decided to take the most direct approach, since he’d never met Melissa before, and went to the closest desk with an employee behind it. The smell of the hospital was too overwhelming for him to try and track a scent that reminded him of Scott, and he hadn’t been around Scott long enough to track how different he may smell after the many years Derek was gone. 

Behind the desk sat a woman with long, blonde hair. It almost reminded him of Erica, but the receptionist’s hair was a more platinum blonde than Erica’s. She was a pretty woman with little to no makeup on who looked like she was in her late twenties. She looked tired, as if she’d been working for many hours already. Derek knew that hospital employees were known to work shifts that lasted far too long. 

Derek put on his best winning smile towards the girl as he walked up to the desk. The woman, her name tag reads Paula, glanced up at him with just her eyes before she brushes her hair out of her face and smiled towards him.

“Hello, sir, is there anything I can help you with?” she asked.

Derek kept his smile on his face as he nodded, “I’m sorry to bother you,” he said innocently. “My uncle was involved in a stabbing incident today and I just wanted to know if Melissa McCall was on a shift today? She’s a close family friend and I’d like to let her know about it so she can check in on him for us. You know, just someone we know we can trust.”

The receptionist stared up at him as if she were lost for a second before gathering herself and looking down at her computer as she began to type something in. As she typed, she spoke to him “I’m sorry to hear about your uncle, the world is crazy. What’s his name?”

Derek almost hesitated but responded anyway, “Peter Hale. He’s being examined right now.”

“Ah, yeah it says here that Doctor Harper is overseeing him. That’s good, you can trust her to do a good job. I mean all our doctors do a good job, obviously, but she has some of the more stellar reviews.”

Derek met ‘Paula’s’ gaze as she looked up at him. Derek could smell the attraction wafting off of her as she looked into his eyes. Perfect. He smiled at her again, showing teeth as he moved the topic back to Ms. McCall.

“That’s good. But is Melissa working?”

The receptionist jumped as if water had been thrown on her, “Oh, right. Sorry. Um…” she typed a few more words into the computer before nodding. “Melissa’s on the floor right now, I’ll give her a call and let her know about the situation.”

Derek’s eyes went wide before he relaxed them, “Oh, is there anyway I can tell her personally? I haven’t seen her in awhile so it would be a huge favor.”

“Uh…” Paula stared at him skeptically, as if she were just now beginning to question his motives before she sighed. “I can call her and see if she’s free. What’s your name so I can let her know what she’s walking in to?”

Derek had no choice but to answer “Derek Hale.”

Now, there were two ways the situation could turn. Melissa could be confused, having never met Derek before or maybe not even heard of him, and expose his lie to the receptionist  _ or _ she could let her curiosity get the best of her and end up showing up to meet him. Derek could only pray that the latter won that battle.

He watched the receptionist dial a quick number into the phone before holding it up to her ear. There were a few seconds before she began speaking.

“Hey, Melissa. There’s someone here that needs to talk to you. Derek Hale?”

There was a small pause that took place between the two as Derek listened to the other side of the conversation through the phone. Melissa finally answered “What does he need?”

“Something about his uncle. He wanted to make sure he could talk to you about it himself.”

Another pause before Melissa sighed and agreed to meet him at the desk in a few minutes. Derek silently sighed in relief with that small victory. Now he just had to convince her to explain to him all that she knew about the kanima victims without tipping her off to the supernatural world. Easy.

Ms. McCall showed up in a few minutes just as she said she would. She wore blue scrubs with her hair up in a curly ponytail. Derek could see the resemblance between her and her son, but he must have gotten most of his features from his father. She looked wary of him immediately, which Derek could understand. He tried to feign a friendship between them as he gave her the same smile he gave to Paula. That didn’t seem to help ease her nerves, but it was better than a stare-down.

Melissa walked up to Derek with caution and a raised eyebrow before she said, “What do you need me for?” 

Derek’s mouth corners twitched at the harsh tone of her voice but he refused to falter, “Hi, Melissa. Would it be alright if we talk more privately?”

“You’re Derek Hale, aren’t you? My son hates you.”

Derek really did wince that time. She completely revealed his lie in front of the receptionist. He let his smile fall then, as he crossed his arms. He spared a glance at the receptionist to see her reaction, but saw that she’d actually picked up the phone while they were talking. 

“Yes,” Derek said, “I am. We never met when I was younger.”

Melissa scoffed, “Does that matter? I want to know why my son rants and raves about how you’re the ‘biggest douche to ever exist’ and how he’s going to ‘beat the hell out of you’ when you showed back up in town.”

Derek assumed that Scott didn’t tell his mother how he’d gotten that broken hand the week before. He decided not to say anything either.

“I had a bad last conversation with Stiles that really hurt him.”

Melissa stared at him, analyzing him, “You’re the boyfriend that Stiles wouldn’t tell me about?”

Derek felt a rising blush on his cheeks as he avoided her eyes while he answered, “No. We weren’t ever… we were kids.”

“What did you do to him then?”

“Do we really have to talk about this  _ now _ ?  _ Here _ ?” Derek asked, glancing at the receptionist again who was suddenly showing great intrigue in their conversation despite being on the phone. Melissa just gave him a mom look with her arms crossed.

Derek sighed in defeat, “I moved to New York after my house burnt down and never patched up our problems.”

Melissa scoffed, “Okay now tell me what you really did.”

“That is it. We had a bad last conversation and I never tried to fix that, then I moved.”

There was silence between them then. Derek refused to look at Melissa. He hated this constant feeling that everyone close to Stiles automatically hated him. He didn’t know how to prove to everyone that he deserved a chance.

Melissa finally responded, “You kids are always so dramatic. You know, when Scott came home  _ seething _ about this Derek Hale kid that was the biggest heartbreaker of all time I’d at least thought you cheated on Stiles with someone. God, I really need to give him a reality check.”

Derek looked up to the nurse in surprise as she walked towards him and motioned for him to follow her. As he did, he said “So you don’t hate me too? You’re not gonna give me a warning or threat?”

“Well obviously if you go out of your way to hurt Stiles then you’ll have everyone around on your ass, but if he hurts you I’d be on his ass too. You messing up a goodbye is not worth my hatred.”

Derek silently sighed in relief. Finally, someone who wasn’t turning him away at the door.

* * *

Together they walked through the bustling hallways of the hospital.

Melissa talked as she walked, “So why did you really call me up to the desk? Is there something wrong with Stiles I need to know? Or do you actually want to me to check in your uncle for something?” 

“Stiles told us about something that I wanted to talk to you about. I don’t know if you’ve heard about the bodies showing up on my family’s old estate,” Derek said.

“Yeah, terrible stuff. What would I know about that?”

“Stiles told us you noticed a few patients coming in paralyzed or talking about being paralyzed and having some sort of scratch or injection mark on them… are you still seeing those kinds of things recently?”

Melissa was silent then as she walked. Derek looked over to see she was pursing her lips and her brows furrowed almost as if she were trying to remember what he was talking about, but Derek felt as if she were putting pieces together instead.

“What do you know about it? Is it a drug thing?” Melissa finally asked.

“The dead bodies on the estate have been found with poison in them that paralyzes their body before they die, I need to know if they’re connected.”

Melissa nervously scoffed, “What are you, the cops? Don’t tell me your family’s at odds with some mafia family or something, Derek. I’m not getting involved with that.”

Derek huffed, “It’s not like that, Mrs. McCall,”

“Ms. McCall,” Melissa interrupted him,

“ _ Ms. McCall _ ,” Derek corrected himself without question, “The cops just aren’t doing anything for us. If there’s anything we can do, we’re looking into it. Whether you help us or not, we’re going to be out there looking for the son of a bitch doing this to innocent people on  _ our _ estate.”

Melissa was silent again after that. Derek could tell she was contemplating her options. He hoped that his appeal to her emotions would get her to crack. At this point, he just needed anything to go off of. Right now, Stiles was the only option in finding anything substantial and Derek couldn’t bear to rely on him so much. Especially when he had his own life to live outside of this. 

“They’re always teenagers,” Melissa started. “Always in high school.”

“Is there anything else similar about them?”

Melissa shook her head, “There isn’t any pattern other than being young, for some reason. That’s why I thought it was a drug issue. Kids will do anything these days to be cool, and I thought that they’d gotten into this new drug that would give them a high in return for being paralyzed or something… I don’t know.”

“Are they ever found in one specific place? Or do they say where they came from or when it happened to them?”

Melissa paused, thinking. It took her a minute as she tried to remember anything substantial before her eyes went wide and she looked up at Derek.

“Coming from practice. They would always say that. That they were at practice or coming home from practice or staying late for practice. They were all athletes…” she frowned to herself. “That doesn’t explain where they were at the time but… why would they all get attacked coming home from practice? They weren’t all on the same team, I don’t think.”

“Do you think any of the sports were more common than the other?”

“Swimming, for sure. They’d always come in wet. So many of them were brought in by friends who’d saved them from drowning. But there were others, for sure. Basketball, football, lacrosse. Swimming was just the most common I saw.”

Derek nodded to himself, trying to put the pieces together himself but not finding the similarities. Maybe Laura or Peter could figure it out. For now he’d at least played the part of detective well.

“Thank you, Melissa. I can’t explain how much you’ve helped us,” He said, emphasizing his gratefulness.

Melissa just nodded, “Just… please don’t do anything stupid. You or anyone you know. If you find anything out, tell the police. Tell  _ Noah _ . He’ll do something. If I find out any of your family or friends died because you tried to do everything yourselves, I’ll bring you back from the dead just to slap you upside the head.”

Derek laughed a little, “I promise we won’t die,” he said. Erica came to mind as he said those words. He prayed that she was still alive.

With that promise, Derek finally began to make his way back the way he came. Melissa didn’t stop him, choosing to go back to her own job that she’d neglected for their conversation. Derek didn’t look at the receptionist when he passed by her desk. He saw his pack still waiting for him in the waiting room with hopeful faces. They must have assumed that since he took so long, he’d found something.

“Well?” Laura said as he sat down next to her.

“Melissa McCall talked to me. She told me that the paralyzed victims who made it to the hospital were all high school athletes. That’s the only pattern between them all. Most of them were swimmers, but that’s it. I don’t know how that all fits together with anything, but I can only assume it’s much better than nothing.”

Isaac frowned to himself, looking down at the floor in thought, “All athletes… what could that even mean? Some jealous kid who never got accepted for tryouts?”

Laura answered, “I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I guess that would make sense. There’s so many of those in school though, we can’t keep an eye on all of them.”

Isaac nodded, “True… I don’t know where the puzzle pieces go, though… It feels like we have so many of them, but none of them fit together yet.”

“Did you have any luck with the police?” Derek asked.

Laura scoffed, “Fucking none. They were useless. I tried to get information about paralyzed victims and they basically just told me they weren’t allowed to give out information of other cases.”

Boyd grunted, “They were just doing their jobs.”

Laura glared at him, “Okay well them doing  _ their  _ jobs are making  _ our  _ jobs much harder.”

All of the wolves fell silent then, once again fallen into thought of how to move forward. Derek didn’t want to play a game of bait again. Last time, it only ended up getting one of their pack members taken from them. They needed something concrete this time. They needed a trail to Erica.

* * *

Peter was allowed to walk out of the hospital within a few hours. The doctors were extremely surprised at how fast he was able to recover after being stitched up, but due to his incessant complaining that since he was able to walk without issue he should be able to go home. They did persist in assuring him that if he had any issues whatsoever to immediately come back in without question.

The pack explained to him what Derek had learned. He was satisfied to find out that they’d learned anything at all seeing as he was stabbed for the cause.

“Do you have any ideas how that ties into anything we learned already?” Isaac asked Peter.

Peter rolled his eyes at him as he dramatically held his side, “You stab me then ask me to do all the work for you afterwards? You all are monsters.”

And that was as far as they got with him. Derek could only assume that Peter couldn’t figure anything out either.

Through Derek’s drive back to the loft, his mind circled around the information as much as it could. Constantly trying to figure out any sort of culprit. There were so many possibilities. It could be one of the team coaches at the school, it could be a jealous student, another athlete, a teacher, the principal, a substitute, the janitor… anyone. The information surely narrowed down the list from the entirety of beacon hills to the high school, even though it wasn’t completely assured that was where the kanima originated from. It was still their best bet as far as they could find out.

Sadly, they knew no one still in school that could do any recon for them. They needed to figure something out.

* * *

A few hours after Derek returned home, he received a text from Stiles. He allowed himself a break from the muddling strategizing of his pack to respond as he walked up to his room.

_ S: Scott’s mom called me to tell me you visited her at the hospital _

_ D: Why would she call you instead of Scott? _ _   
_ _ S: Cuz I’m her favorite _

_ S: Anyway you shouldn’t interrupt her at work she could get in trouble _

_ D: I didn’t really have another option _

_ S: You could have asked me to ask her about it _

_ D: I’m not getting you more involved than you already are, Stiles _

_ D: Shouldn’t you be going to school soon? _

The thought bubble that indicated Stiles was typing popped up once, then disappeared, then it opened again, then it closed. Then, Derek received a call from Stiles.

Derek brought the phone to his ear, “Hello?”

“Hi it was getting hard to type while I packed my bag,” Stiles said before grunting as if he were picking up something heavy.

“There’s no way that your books weigh that much.”

“Don’t underestimate the amount of knowledge they pack into this little college wallet destroyers, dude.”

Derek scoffed at the nickname, lowering himself onto his bed.

“Anyway, did you happen to find anything out from Melissa that we didn’t already know?” Stiles asked, his voice suddenly becoming far then close again. Derek assumed he brought the phone from one ear to the other.

“It sounds like all the victims who survived were student athletes. Mostly swimmers. Melissa said they always would talk about coming home from practice or being at practice late or something like that.”

Stiles hummed in thought on the other end as Derek heard a door open through the phone. 

Derek interrupted his thinking, “Don’t try and figure it out, Stiles, you should be focusing on your schoolwork.”

“Derek, do me a favor,” Stiles paused but Derek didn’t respond. “Stop treating me like a baby. It’s really demeaning.”

Derek huffed but still didn’t respond. How was he supposed to try and keep Stiles safe without him thinking it was a jab or like he was treating him like a baby? Derek hated trying to find a balance in every damn thing.

“You said usually swimmers right?” Stiles asked.

“That’s what Melissa said, that they’re usually wet.”

“The door leading into the pool at the high school is never gets locked… if the new kids at school are keeping up old traditions, they’re probably sneaking into the pool area to hang out every now and then. Or swimmers getting late night practice in I guess.”

“How do you know that?” Derek asked.

Stiles laughed, “Um, because Scott and I would sneak in there all the time to drink beer behind our parents’ backs during senior year. It’s the last place the janitor goes, so you’re pretty safe until really late. We never got caught.”

“You would go all the way to school… to drink beer?”

“Don’t judge us, we were seniors. Plus, it was the only thing I could do to get Scott out of Allison’s arms for a night.”

Derek shook his head silently, knowing Stiles couldn’t see him. He’d had wolfsbane infused alcohol a few times, and it was a good time, but he never had a huge craving for it in high school. 

“So, if kids are sneaking in there and doing whatever they have to do, then who is the kanima and why are they targeting them?” Derek asked.

Stiles hummed in thought again, “But it’s not killing them. Maybe it’s not targeting them… do we know any patterns in the ones who die?”

“It would be nice if we could find stuff like that out, but I don’t really know how to get that information,” Derek said.

“I’ll try to dig some stuff up after school. I just have to dig through the news articles to see if they label them as bright young students with a future or fathers or mothers… something. I’ll see,” Stiles assured him.

“Stiles…” Derek started.

“Dude if you say something about me helping you out I’m skipping school and focusing solely on this issue. I’ll dedicate my life to this so much that I’ll become obsessed with it to the point that I’ll refuse to stop until either me or that thing is dead. I’ll never be able to be saved. Is that what you want, Derek? Is that what you want?”

Derek growled at him through the phone, “You’re lucky you’re on the phone right now or else I’d rip your throat out with my teeth right about now.”

Stiles giggled over the phone, which only made Derek even more annoyed, “Awww, don’t be so angry sourwolf. Just let me figure some shit out, it’s not like I’m running into my death.”

Derek just sighed silently, having no response for the dotted boy. There was nothing he could do to change his mind.

“Good, good. I always love a sigh of defeat. Anyway, it was fun talking but I’m about to get on the bus now and I don’t wanna be annoying. I’ll text you if I figure anything out. And you better do the same.”

“Fine,” Derek growled.

Stiles laughed again before they exchanged their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Derek sighed, rubbing his forehead. There were a few seconds of silence before a small smile began creeping up Derek’s face. 

 

He’d missed this stupid feeling he got talking to this stupid boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So let me just inform y'all of the fucking weeks of hell I've been going through. It's been so hard to write because of all these outside sources. A few weeks ago, I started to get swamped with work for a job that I've been having a lot of trouble being at and it was heavily draining me. That same week, i decided to put in my two weeks to a job that I'd been with for 2 and a half years. It was really hard for me to cope with that and I fell into a pretty bad depression over it. Then, I ended up becoming sick on my last week. I felt like an asshole to call out my entire last week, so I worked while sick and ended up just staying sick through it. I'm still sick now, which is why the chapter is kind of lackluster (in my opinion). I really pushed myself to write this chapter despite me being sick (i think i have bronchitis... again... ;-;) and I hope you all can forgive me for not being able to update as regularly as I used to. Once this sickness is fucking GONE I can finally get back to the schedule I once had. Please just try to stick it out with me <3


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